


Bound to You

by XxScarletMaidenxX



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fanfiction, Hurt/Comfort, Manga & Anime, Orochimaru (Naruto)-centric, Orochimaru - Freeform, Orochimaru falls in love, Romance, Uchiha Sasuke Being an Asshole, naruto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-05-19 03:23:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 50,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19348510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxScarletMaidenxX/pseuds/XxScarletMaidenxX
Summary: Tsuki had been on her own, for nearly as long as she could remember, there were a few weeks of happiness that she could recall. There was a brief moment of peace and tranquility when her grandparents were still alive to care for her and pass down the stories of their people. The Towa Clan had been nearly wiped out. Centuries ago they were a clan of great power, people feared and revered them, called them the Immortal Clan and some referred to them as the Vampire Clan due to their sensitivity to light. Those of the Towa Blood line, possessed great regenerative and restorative powers and could easily heal the wounds and ailments of others through contact. However, The Towa Clan had a fatal flaw, when one fell in battle, their soulmate fell with them. A mark would appear on those who were bound to one another, at first touch. There was a manhunt to slaughter anyone possessing a mark of the Towa clan to wipe them out of existence.





	1. Chapter 1

Tsuki had been on her own, for nearly as long as she could remember, there were a few weeks of happiness that she could recall. There was a brief moment of peace and tranquility when her grandparents were still alive to care for her and pass down the stories of their people. The Towa Clan had been nearly wiped out. Centuries ago they were a clan of great power, people feared and revered them, called them the Immortal Clan and some referred to them as the Vampire Clan due to their sensitivity to light. Those of the Towa Blood line, possessed great regenerative and restorative powers and could easily heal the wounds and ailments of others through contact. However, The Towa Clan had a fatal flaw, when one fell in battle, their soulmate fell with them. A mark would appear on those who were bound to one another, at first touch. There was a manhunt to slaughter anyone possessing a mark of the Towa clan to wipe them out of existence.

After hearing the stories her grandmother had passed down to her, Tsuki was terrified of touching anyone. There was no way to control it or prevent it from happening and it only took a single touch, a brush of fingertips, a handshake any form of physical contact, could make the mark appear. Setting off on her own after the death of her grandparents, at the age of six, Tsuki journeyed to the mountains and resolved herself to a life in solitary confinement. She didn’t want to be bound to anyone against her will and curse them to be bound to her. Her grandmother made it seem glamorous and romantic, but to her it seemed confining.

Due to her sensitivity to light, she hid in caves during the daytime and escaped her solitary confinement to dance beneath the moonlight. It was her routine for nearly a year, before she was discovered by a group of vile men. As she danced beneath the moonlight humming a somber tune, she fell into their trap, plummeting into a small hole. She twisted as she fell, managing to avoid the spikes below and landed in in a crouch next to the spikes.

The hole was too deep for her to climb out of. Whenever she sensed an animal nearby she’d yell at it to keep it from falling into the trap with her. Hours later, she heard the sound of voices, they were raised in an argument and drawing closer. They didn’t sound very nice. Tsuki pressed herself against the wall hoping to conceal herself from view as they stopped at the edge of the trap.

“Seriously, we caught nothing?” A gruff voice growled from above, they were right behind her, so if she didn’t move they wouldn’t see her unless they were to move to a different side or lay on their stomach and look straight down.

Tsuki tensed as she heard them move.

“Oh, ho! What do we have here?” Another man chuckled, “Looks like we caught us a little girl.”

She chanced a glance upward and felt her skin crawl as she met the gaze of the man, he had bright orange eyes that were staring at her hungrily. He was a big bulk of a man, hairy and rippling with muscles, everything about him screamed predator. Two other men stepped into view beside him, neither of them seemed as interested in her as the other man, but they were equally scary, swathed in black and strapped with lethal weapons.

“Too young for my taste.” One of the men in black shrugged and turned to walk away.

“I like them little, they break so much easier.” The beast of a man with the feral orange eyes grinned wickedly causing the child to tremble in fear. He let out a roar and Tsuki dropped to her knees covering her head as the bamboo shoot spikes splintered to nothing from the power of his voice, before he leapt into the pit to retrieve her.

Tsuki let out a scream and tried pull away from him only to gasp in pain as he caught her arm in his hand in a tight grip, instantly breaking several blood vessels. He wrenched her toward him and tucked her under his arm and leapt out of the pit laughing as she struggled uselessly against him.

“Let go!” Tsuki cried as she attempted to break from the beast of a man’s grasp, but he was far too strong.

The beast of a man laughed at her measly attempts to break away from him, “Mm, she smells sweet.” He licked his lips and Tsuki felt fear grip her heart. She tried again, to no avail, to break from his hold. His free hand reached out and caught her light silvery blonde hair in his grasp, “So soft.”

“Urso, you can play with her later, stay alert.” One of the men in black growled, “And keep her quiet!”

They traveled a great distance, leaving the mountain range just as the sun began to come up. Tsuki cringed at the blinding light and let out a whimper of pain as her fair skin soon started to burn.

“Urso, I said keep her quiet!” The man who had spoken before growled as Tsuki squirmed and whimpered to avoid the sun’s harsh rays.

The beast of a man holding her in his bear like grip glanced down and noticed the redness of her fair skin, “Such a delicate little flower.” He smirked, “You’ll break so easily.”

“Urso! Keep qui-.” Tsuki cringed as the man cut off with a shriek of agony and the sound of tearing flesh, blood splattering and bones breaking came from the path ahead.

There was another scream up ahead. Tsuki’s stomach churned as she heard a choked gurgling sound and saw blood splatter across the ground in front of her. What was happening? The man holding her, let out a roar of rage and she yelped as she was dropped to the blood-soaked ground. She scrambled to her feet and fled under the cover of the surrounding trees before cowering in a nearby shrub with her hands over her head trying to block out the sounds of violence as her captor was ripped to shreds.

               She stayed hidden, not knowing who or what had attacked her captors and praying silently that it would leave her alone. There was a rustling in the nearby underbrush and she cowered as she heard something slithering toward her. Tsuki let out a scream as something coiled around her ankle and she was dragged out of her hiding spot.

               Her gaze flit to her ankle and she felt her heart begin to race as she saw a large black snake coiling around her. She attempted to scramble away from it with a yelp. A man stepped onto her path, a man with pale white skin, long sleek black as night hair and piercing snake like golden green eyes with slits for pupils. He stared down at her curiously, his gaze flit to the bruising on her arm and the red burns lining the rest of her revealed skin. Once he met her gaze his eyes widened for a brief moment, as if he recognized her eyes, the eyes that marked her as one of the Towa, colorless, and lacking any noticeable pupil. Eyes that if any not knowing of the Towa clan were to see, would assume her blind. Eyes that could see in darkness and were blinded by light.

               “What’s your name, little Towa?” He asked her as he offered her a hand to help her to her feet, waving the snake away from her.

               “T-Tsuki.” She responded feebly as she reached for his hand, “Th-thank you for saving me.” The moment her hand slipped into his, she let out a cry of pain as her skin began to burn where he touched her.

               “What the-?” The man hissed and pulled away from her staring down at his hand in horror as Tsuki crumpled to the ground clutching at her burning hand.

               She looked down at her scorching palm and felt her heart drop as she saw a small black crescent moon appear like a brand on her hand. Her eyes welled with tears, she’d been bound, to this man with the terrifying eyes.

               His hand lashed out and caught her by the neck lifting her off the ground, applying enough pressure to cut off her oxygen supply, “What did you do to me?” He demanded with a hiss as she uselessly kicked her legs in an attempt to get him to release her.

               As he continued applying pressure, he suddenly winced as he felt his own throat beginning to close, and eased his grip on the child. His breathing returned to normal as she gasped for air. He dropped her to the ground with a curse, they were linked, thanks to this stupid mark. The Towa Clan was a mystery, he’d been intrigued by her because it was a clan that was often referred to as the Immortal Clan or sometimes The Vampire Clan. What had she done to him? His gaze swept over the child as she lay in a heap on the ground sobbing uncontrollably.

               Deciding he’d probably get more answers if he was kinder, he knelt next to the crying child, “Tsuki?” She jumped and shrank away from him in terror.

               Her skin was getting steadily redder the longer she was in the sun. Sighing, he swept the girl into his arms and carried her to a patch of shade beneath a large oak tree. It was still early in the morning; the sun wasn’t fully risen and it was already burning her delicate skin. They wouldn’t be able to travel when the sun was up and until he understood what this mark was and how to get rid of it, he couldn’t let her out of his sight.

               He scanned the surrounding area trying to find a more suitable place to rest as once the sun rose high enough they’d lose a good portion of shade from the tree. His gaze fell on what looked like the mouth of a cave in the side of a small cluster of hills. It was probably a wolf or bear’s den, but it would have to do, the child looked uncomfortable as the sun continued its ascent into the sky.

               Tsuki cringed as the man picked her up a second time and let out a squeak of terror as he ran, faster than she’d ever seen anyone run before causing the trees around her to blur together. They came to a stop just outside of a small cave tucked in the hillside. He scanned it quickly before stepping into the dark cave. The child in his arms seemed to relax once they were in the darkness.

               Once he set her down she looked up at him curiously and those eyes that had looked entirely white in the daylight hours appeared to have glowing titanium irises in the darkness.

               “Thank you.” Her voice was no more than a whisper in the darkness.

               “Why don’t we start over.” He extended his hand to the child wondering if perhaps she took his hand again the mark would reverse, “I’m Orochimaru.”

               A small dainty hand slipped into his, “Tsuki.”

               There was no pain this time and when he looked down at his hand, the crescent shaped mark was still glaring back at him. “What is this?” He asked pointing to the mark knowing she could see clearly in the darkness.

               Tears welled in her eyes, “A shackle.”

               “Why did you do it?” He asked her, his patience wearing thin.

               “I didn’t.” The girl cried, her glowing eyes vanished from the darkness as she dropped her head and began to cry again. “It happens on its own.”

               “Remove it.” Orochimaru snapped at the child, his patience gone.

               “If I would I could, you think I want to be tethered to someone like you?” The child cried, “You’re old and mean!”

               That struck a nerve. He lashed out and caught her by the neck cutting off her oxygen supply again. Just as before once he started applying pressure putting her life at risk, he felt his own breathing becoming affected. He released her and struggled to come up with a plan. They were connected, somehow, when her life was at risk, so was his. With as scrawny and weak as she was, that put him in considerable jeopardy. He’d have to find somewhere to keep her alive while he researched more about the Towa clan to learn more about the mark and how to sever their bond without him dying.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible Trigger Warning, there is an 'off camera' rape so just a heads up

Over the years, Orochimaru continued on with his goal, researching the mark and the Towa clan in his spare time. He kept the girl, imprisoned on a remote island, in a prison below ground under 24-hour surveillance.  Occasionally, if the girl were under stress he’d get a faint fleeting feeling, but so long as she wasn’t in life threatening danger, it would subside. According to Towa Clan legend the mark was to identify soulmates, which was completely laughable to him. However, the fact that his life was tied to that weak child, was not a laughing matter.

               In his time researching, he’d gained many loyal followers, but also a few enemies along the way, the girl was a constant risk and their bond was unbreakable. He’d hoped that once he found a vessel to try his body transfer jutsu on that the mark would stay with his old body, but once he’d completed the first transfer, the mark seared onto the hand of his new body.

               As he was working in his lab, he felt his stomach churn uneasily, something was wrong with the child. He could feel her terror all around him and his heart started to race inside his chest. Was she in danger? Was the remote island discovered by one of his enemies? Her breathing was being restricted. There was pain, so much pain, something was terribly wrong. Swearing under his breath he dropped what he was doing and took off. After about ten minutes, his body returned to normal, but he sensed a disturbance with the child and continued on his way. Something was terribly wrong. Her psyche had been broken, she was in physical and psychological agony. The island wasn’t safe for her anymore.

               It was normally a week’s journey to get to the island, but he could make it there in as little as two days if he was determined. On the second day of the journey, he knew something was wrong with the girl, his body felt oddly sluggish and weak as he arrived at the prison.

               “Lord Orochimaru!” He was greeted by one of his subordinates, Orion, the man he’d left in charge of the prison, a young man of twenty and three whose powerful earth style jutsu helped create the island fortress. “What a surpri-.”

               “Where’s the child I left here eight years ago?” Orochimaru hissed.

               The young man seemed taken aback by the directness but thought better than to question his clearly agitated superior. “Same place you left her. Would you like to res-?”

               “Take me to her.” Orochimaru glared causing the young man to pale and jump to action leading the way through the maze-like fortress.

               They twisted and wound their way deep into the ground through the underground tunnels before stopping at a small guard’s station to get the key to her cell from the guard on duty. When they stopped in the guard’s station Orochimaru noticed the guard on duty had a few scratches on his face and appeared to be nursing a black eye and a deep wound to his chest. It looked deep and was still bleeding, though he suspected it wasn’t a fresh wound.

               “What the hell happened to you?” Orion asked in awe as he looked to his subordinate.

               “That stupid, bitch. She’s crazy!” The guard growled before turning to face them he paled when he spotted the shinobi with the straight black as night hair and the leering eyes. “Ah, Lord Orochimaru.” He bowed politely.

               “Tsuki, did that?” Orochimaru asked skeptically, the docile whimpering child he’d left here eight years ago wasn’t capable of such damage.

               “She’s refusing her sedatives now.” The guard grumbled, “And seems to have awoken an affinity for wind style.”

               “Sedatives?”

               “It’s the only way we can get her to sleep.” Orion replied morosely, “We thought she’d keel over, she hadn’t slept for nearly a week once you left her, it was making her sick, so we have to sedate her to get her to sleep.” He turned his gaze to the guard, “But no one informed me she was refusing them now, when did this happen?”

               “Two nights ago?” Orochimaru surmised, whenever that incident was where she was in danger, and from the look of the healing patterns on the scratches on the guard’s face, the same night he’d been scratched.

               “Y-yeah.” The guard bowed his head, his fists were clenched nervously at his sides. He was responsible somehow.

               “Give me the key.” Orochimaru growled causing the man to jump and fumble for the key at his waist. He reluctantly handed it over and Orochimaru turned down the corridor to her cell.

               The tunnels were dimly lit with flaming sconces. It was deafeningly quiet down here and he had a fleeting thought that if the girl were to scream from her cell, that no one would be able to hear her back at the guard’s station. He reached the door to her cell and once the key slid into the lock he heard a scream from within and looked up in alarm as the wall shook as if something from within the cell had struck it with a great force.

               Orochimaru gently pushed the door of the cell open only for it to slam shut with a powerful gust of wind. So, she had awoken an affinity for wind style after all. Deciding he’d had enough, he threw the cell door open and stepped into the small cell. The smell of fresh and dried blood hit him first as he stepped into the small cell. His gaze flit to the corner of the cell on the broken form of a frail girl of fifteen. Her long silvery white hair fell around her bony frame like a cloak, her wrists were bound, to a kunai puncturing the wall above her and there was a blindfold tied tightly over her eyes. One look at her fingers and the dried blood beneath her nails and he knew she was the one who had scratched the guard. Her arms were littered in bruises, her lip was busted and most worrisome of all was the dry and fresh blood clinging to the inside of her thighs.

               Rage welled up inside of him as he took in her broken and bound appearance and he knew in an instant what had happened, why he’d felt her terror a few nights before. As he took a step toward her, he saw her frail body tense, she struggled uselessly against her bonds and let out another desperate scream causing a strong gust of wind to rip through the small cell.

               “Tsuki, that’s enough.” He said softly as he knelt beside her and removed the blindfold.

               Tears welled in her colorless eyes as she met his terrifying gaze. He reached for her bound hands and hesitated as she flinched and shrank away from his touch. Once he cut her hands loose, she curled into a ball, making herself as small as she possibly could, cowering away from him. The small makeshift hospital like gown hanging off her bony frame was in tatters. After a quick glance, Orochimaru realized there was nothing here for her aside from a small cot without a blanket and a small prison like bathroom tucked around the corner.

               “Let’s go.” He got to his feet and looked down at the broken girl expectantly, but frowned when she stayed in her tightly coiled ball trembling in fear. “Tsuki, come.”

               She didn’t move.

               Sighing, he bent down and swept the girl into his arms, cringing as she let out a cry and started to flail in his arms. She fought so violently and so suddenly, he almost lost his hold on her.

               “NO!” Tsuki screamed in a panic as she felt arms encircle her, before relaxing as she felt herself being cradled gently. Her colorless eyes met his, the man who was both her savior and her executioner, the man who’d left her in this cell when she was just a child.

               He carried her from the cell in silence, they passed the guard’s station and continued through the twisting maze of tunnels until they made it to the ground floor, just as the sun began to set. Tsuki cringed once they made it into the daylight shielding her face with her hands. She jumped as she was gently set down on the sandy beach and watched in awe as Orochimaru summoned a giant purple snake with black stripes and piercing green eyes. It was the biggest creature she had ever seen, the size of a small mountain range.

               “What do you want?!” The snake roared angrily, “It better be good for you to summon, The Great Manda.” His voice made the entire island quake.

               “Destroy the island, leave none alive.” Orochimaru said simply before turning and gathering up the broken girl in his arms.

               The colossal serpent seemed delighted at this and enjoyed tearing down the fortress and eating any who escaped the destruction. Tsuki stared in wonder as the giant serpent decimated the entire island in a few short minutes. She was unphased as the few escapees screamed in terror and were devoured by the colossal snake. Deep down she felt a small sense of satisfaction that those who had hurt her over the years and those who stood idly by and let it happen, were meeting such a cruel end. Once the serpent ceased its destruction, it slithered to where Orochimaru stood on the beach.

               “That wasn’t nearly satisfying enough, I’ll still expect some human sacrifices.” The snake hissed, before its piercing green gaze fell on the frail girl staring at him with wide colorless eyes. “What’s wrong with that puny thing? Why is she staring?”

               Orochimaru looked down to the girl in his arms wondering if the talking mountain sized snake was too much for her to process after what she’d been through.

               “Manda-sama is amazing.” She said in awe causing the colossal serpent to straighten himself up with pride.

               “That’s more like it.” The colossal serpent said smugly, “Since this child is so charming, you can forego the sacrifices this once.” It glared in Orochimaru’s direction before turning back to the girl. “I shall bestow you with a great honor, little one. Hold out your arm.”

               Tsuki hesitated and reached toward the snake. She jumped as its great forked tongue shot forward and coiled around her arm causing it to sear for a moment. Manda retracted his tongue leaving a strange snake-like black mark coiled around the girl’s arm. It vanished from view after a few moments before Manda too disappeared in a puff of smoke.

               “Let’s go.” Orochimaru sighed before looking down to the broken girl in his arms, only to stare in disbelief as he noticed she was sound asleep with her head resting on his shoulder.


	3. Chapter 3

Tsuki woke to find herself in a new cell. It was bigger than the last cell and much warmer. There was an actual bed with soft warm blankets and pillows. Next to her bed was a small desk with a few sketchpads and pieces of charcoal and a small music box. On the opposite side of her cell was a small chest of drawers next to a standing mirror beside a door that led to a full-sized bathroom. She crept from the warm bed to find that her injuries had been tended to, but after being in the presence of the one she was bound to, her Towa bloodline’s regenerative abilities would have kicked in. Her wounds were physically healed. Someone had given her a bath and changed her into a simple pale green dress.

               Curiously she opened the lid of the music box and jumped slightly as two little glittering snake figurines popped up and a haunting melody filled the room. A small smile twisted onto her lips as she lost herself in the haunting melody. The door of her cell opened and she scrambled to close the music box, perhaps she wasn’t supposed to touch anything. Her colorless eyes flit to the open door to see a boy about her age with pale grey hair and onyx eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses.

               “Who are you?” Tsuki blurted as she took a hesitant step away from the boy. He was glaring at her.

               “Kabuto, I’m Lord Orochimaru’s right hand man and I expect to be treated with respect.” He replied coolly.

               “Okay, Kabuto-san.” Tsuki bowed her head politely, which only seemed to irk the boy further.

               “Who are you and what are you to Lord Orochimaru?” He demanded.

               “Tsuki.” She replied softly keeping her head bowed.

               “And what are you to Lord Orochimaru?” He repeated in annoyance.

               “I don’t know.” Tsuki answered honestly. This didn’t seem to be the response he wanted to hear.

               “Come with me.” He growled and turned on his heel, “Stay close or you’ll get lost and fall into a trap.” His tone was sharp and commanding.

               Tsuki scrambled to follow after him and tried to memorize all the twists and turns they took so she could find her cell again.

               “Lord Orochimaru has instructed that should you try to run away, that I am to kill you.”  He said sternly as he caught her looking around trying to memorize the way.

               Tsuki had a feeling that wasn’t what Orochimaru had said, but thought better than to argue with him as he already seemed to hate her. “I won’t run away, Kabuto-san.”

               Kabuto shot a glare in her direction. Why did Lord Orochimaru suddenly take off in a hurry and bring back this useless girl? She was weak. What possible use could he have for her? They reached a large medical lab. There were dozens of specimens in jars and tubes, tons of instruments, gadgets and monitors she’d never seen before, and sitting at a table buried in a book, was Orochimaru. The man with the terrifying eyes that held her life in his hands.

               His golden green eyes with slits for pupils glanced up as the door opened. He looked to the pale girl at Kabuto’s heels. On the first night back, he noticed that while she slept in his arms, the various bruises littering her skin had begun to fade away. Now, she looked completely healed.

               “Leave us, Kabuto.” Orochimaru waved the boy away before beckoning the girl toward him. He wanted to run some tests on the girl to learn more about her bloodline’s abilities and why they had only activated once she was in his arms.

               Kabuto shot another glare at the girl before taking his leave, sending a shiver down her spine. Tsuki stumbled further into the lab staring in horror at all the gruesome jars and tubes filled with ghastly things.

               “Come here, Tsuki.” Orochimaru ordered the girl causing her to jump and scramble to his side. He reached out to grab her arm and paused as she flinched and instinctively pulled away from him. “Have a seat.”  He indicated the exam chair behind him and noticed the girl’s hesitation. “Don’t try my patience child.”

               Tsuki reluctantly sat in the uncomfortable cold metal chair, folding her arms into her lap as she didn’t like the look of the restraints on the armrests. She felt his piercing gaze on her and shrank beneath his intense stare. Shakily she lifted her arms and set them on the arm rests flinching as he moved to secure the restraints.

               Sensing her terror, Orochimaru gently pat her on the head to reassure her. “It’ll go much quicker if you cooperate.”

               Tsuki nodded, but her body was still tense as she spotted the rolling tray next to the exam chair with all manner of needles, scalpels and other terrifying looking instruments. “W-what are you doing?” She asked fearfully.

               “Experiments.” He said simply as he retrieved a needle from the tray, “Relax.” With her body tense and rigid as it was he wouldn’t be able to draw a good blood sample.

               Tsuki struggled to relax her body not liking the look of the needle in his hand. Her heart was racing, she didn’t like that her hands were restrained, it made her think of what that man had done to her.          

               “Did you like the music box?” He asked her and smiled slightly as her body relaxed a little as she looked to him curiously.

               A faint blush spread across her pale cheeks, “It’s pretty and I really like the song.” Her body relaxed further and he eased the needle into a vein in the crook of her arm causing her to wince slightly, but she kept quiet and tried to keep her body relaxed. “Why did you save me? I probably wouldn’t have died.”

               “I wasn’t willing to take that risk, and your constant distress was starting to affect my work.” Orochimaru said simply as he drew a few vials of blood. He removed the needle from her arm and took the vials of blood to some strange machine before retrieving a dropper and dropping small droplets of her blood onto tiny pieces of glass. After he finished dropping her blood onto the glass he placed them under a strange device and looked down at them through a scope.

               Tsuki watched him curiously as he examined her blood in silence, occasionally making notes in a small notebook beside the odd scope like device. They sat in silence for a few hours as he continued this process, examining the blood, jotting down notes, examining the blood jotting down notes then he distributed the blood from the remaining vials into dozens of smaller vials before placing them into a strange machine that made whirring sounds and spit out paper.

               He returned to her side and retrieved a scalpel from the tray. As he brought the blade closer to her, Tsuki resisted against her restraints. The blade pressed into her forearm causing her to whimper in pain as he drew a clean line in her arm. Blood bubbled to the surface and he watched the wound carefully for any changes. Nothing happened.

               “What was different?” He pondered to himself before placing his hand over top of her own and watching the wound once more.

               Nothing happened.

               “Why did your wounds heal before?” He asked her.

               “Obaa-chan said we can only heal when we act out of love.” Tsuki replied softly.

               Orochimaru contemplated this for a moment. That didn’t make sense. Her wounds healed before his eyes when he’d carried her from the fortress. There was no love. He released her from her restraints as her stomach let out a soft grumble, before placing a bandage on her arm.

               “Come on.” Sighing, he led her out of the lab and through more dark twists and turns in even more complex tunnels until they reached a small kitchen. “Are you capable of making yourself some food?” He asked her skeptically.

               Tsuki nodded and hesitantly looked around the kitchen to see what she could make while Orochimaru sat at the table with a book that had her clan’s symbol on the cover. After a quick search of the kitchen she found enough ingredients to make rice and vegetable curry. In no time at all, the kitchen was filled with the heavenly aroma of her cooking causing Orochimaru to look up curiously, watching the bony girl work diligently, chopping vegetables with precision and blending spices with great care.

               Once she was finished preparing the meal, she dished out food onto two plates and carried them back to the table. Nervously she set one of the plates down next to Orochimaru before taking a seat on his left. His piercing gaze flit in her direction as he noticed the plate of food sitting next to him. She quickly averted her gaze and focused on her own plate of food. A small smile wormed onto her lips as she noticed him take a bite of food.

               “We’ll start your training tomorrow.” Orochimaru noted once he’d finished the plate of food she’d set beside him.

               Tsuki looked to him curiously. “Training?”

               “You’re a liability.” He threw a sharp look in her direction causing her to shrink into herself.

               “Sorry.” She mumbled softly only to jump as a hand fell atop her head, giving her a gentle pat.

               “Can you find your way back to your room?” He asked her and sighed as a blush spread across her cheeks and she shook her head.

               “I’ll try harder, next time.” Her voice was no more than a squeak, she was scared he’d be angry with her.

               “Clean up your mess and I’ll show you the way.” He ordered her dismissively and returned to his book.

               Tsuki took their plates to the sink before cleaning all the dishes and putting them back where she found them and hurriedly scrubbed the countertops she’d used before approaching the table nervously. Orochimaru got up without a word and took off through the door opposite the one they had come in through. She took mental notes as she trailed along behind him, counting the turns based on how many sconces they passed.

               He stopped outside of her door, “I’ll come get you when its time for training.” With that said he turned and disappeared down another hall.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Tsuki couldn’t sleep. She’d always had trouble sleeping, as far as she could remember. Usually her body would just shut down in a state of forced sleep once she’d exhausted herself enough. Once she’d been bound to Orochimaru and he left her in that cell, there were people that would force drugs down her throat that made her sleep. She didn’t like them, she didn’t like that they left her completely vulnerable and made everything seem hazy.

               Instead of sleeping, she let the little snake music box play for hours and danced to the haunting melody, wishing she could dance in the moonlight as she used to when she was younger. After hours of dancing, there was a knock at the door. Startled she scrambled to shut the music box and turned to the door as it swung open. Those terrifying eyes latched onto her noting that she was still in the dress from the day before and the bed looked untouched.

               “Trouble sleeping?”

               She bowed her head.

               “I can make you something to help-.”

               “No, I don’t want that.” Tsuki blurted before closing her mouth with a squeak and tensing in anticipation thinking he was going to lash out at her.

               “What will help?” He asked her, trying to be patient with her.

               Tsuki shrugged, “I don’t know, I used to always wait until it happened on its own.”

               “Collapsing from sheer exhaustion.” Orochimaru surmised with a shake of his head, “Change into something else.” He ordered her and felt a spark of annoyance as she looked to him confused before looking around the room curiously. Losing all patience, he pointed to the chest of drawers next to the standing mirror, “Over there.”

               Hurriedly, Tsuki scrambled to the chest of drawers before finding something to change into. She stripped out of her dress and changed into a pale lavender bodysuit that stretched down to about mid-thigh leaving the majority of her legs revealed and pulled a white kimono-like shirt over top. When she turned to face Orochimaru she found him with his head in his hands shaking his head at her. Did she do something wrong?

               “Your hair is going to get in your way.” He noted, tapping his foot impatiently.

               “I can cut it-.” Tsuki skimmed the room for something sharp only to jump as Orochimaru appeared behind her, tired of her taking so long and swept her long silken silvery blonde hair into a bun atop her head.

               “Let’s go.”

               She ran to keep up with his long strides and lost count of the twists and turns along the way and hoped he wouldn’t test her on how to get back. He stopped abruptly and she ran face first into his back and tumbled to the ground with a squeak. A hand lashed out and caught her wrist in a painfully tight grasp wrenching her to her feet.

               “Watch where you’re going.” He snapped.

               “S-Sorry.”

               They arrived in a large open room with high ceilings. There were several targets littering the room and a plethora of other training devices.  For the first few hours she threw shuriken and kunai at the targets, before they moved on to work on her wind style and once she was practically drained of chakra she trained in hand to hand combat. After getting mercilessly defeated time and time again, she felt exhausted.

               Once training was over, every muscle and bone in her body ached. Her companion didn’t comment once during her training so she wasn’t sure if she was doing well or not. She had managed to hit every single target after only a few attempts which she thought was good considering she’d never held a weapon before. Obediently, she trailed along after Orochimaru as he left their training area, after awhile she thought she recognized a twist in the path only to realize they were going in a different direction than she thought led to her room.

               Her heart dropped as they arrived at the lab. Subjected to a few hours of experiments and blood work, she felt completely drained by the time they finished. Once finished, he led her to the kitchen, she prepared a meal and they ate in silence. She cleaned the kitchen and was returned to her room, and the process repeated for two more days.

               As much as she tried, she couldn’t get herself to fall asleep, she’d never been able to fall asleep on her own. Each time he’d come to retrieve her from her room he’d look annoyed and disappointed that she still hadn’t slept and would threaten her with drugs.

               On the third day, he found her lying on the floor staring up at the ceiling vacantly. Her body was littered in bruises and needle marks from their training and the blood draws for his research. She barely had the strength to move. He didn’t understand how she could go her whole life without being able to fall asleep on her own without collapsing from sheer exhaustion and her body forcing a shut down. If this continued she’d be putting their lives at risk. He’d have to sedate her.

               “You’re such a nuisance.” He hissed as he swept the girl into his arms to take her to the lab. She didn’t have the strength to protest.

               After a few turns, he felt her head drop onto his shoulder and looked down to find her sound asleep and just like before, the bruises lining her skin began to fade to nothing. He felt a strange sensation as he carried, her as if he himself were growing stronger. It made no sense to him.

               When they arrived in the lab, he laid the sleeping girl on a cool metal exam table and quickly withdrew a vial of blood and watched as the puncture wound where the needle was vanished in an instant. He draped a sheet over top of her and went to examine the blood. It was different than the samples he’d drawn before, stronger, more nutrient enriched. His gaze fell on the small black crescent mark on the palm of his hand. What had changed?

               The sound of rustling fabric caused him to turn, she’d woken up and was looking around the lab in a panic. Her colorless eyes fell on him and she relaxed after a moment.

               “Go back to sleep.” He ordered her softly as he returned to the microscope. After a few moments he could still sense that she was awake and threw a glare in her direction. She looked scared, she didn’t like the lab. “Come here.”  His tone was softer now as he tried to be more patient with the girl.

               Tsuki hurriedly left the cold metal table and scrambled to his side. He pulled up a small stool next to him as he continued with his research. She sat down quietly, careful not to disturb him. The lab was colder than usual and she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them in an attempt to keep herself warm.

               Her eyelids began to feel heavy as she sat next to him in silence, watching him as he examined her blood samples and made notes on his findings. Even though he was probably the scariest being she’d ever come into contact with, his presence was soothing and made her feel safe. She closed her eyes and laid her head atop her knees.

               Orochimaru looked over as the bony girl drifted to sleep on the stool beside him. Her frail body began to slip from the stool and he reached out, catching her in his arms. A curious thought crossed his mind, she only seemed to fall asleep in his presence, but she woke up shortly after when he left her side. He placed her frail form on his lap, to see how long she’d sleep and he could continue his research. Her head lightly rested against his shoulder and she unconsciously nestled closer to him.

               “Troublesome girl.” He muttered under his breath as he continued studying her blood samples, mixing the old and new samples with various tissue samples, diseases and bacteria to see the difference in the reactions. His eyes widened after he flipped through dozens of samples, her old blood sample succumbed to each disease and bacteria and couldn’t fight any of them off. The newer blood samples neutralized each disease, toxin and bacteria he’d tested it against.

               Curious he pricked himself with a nearby needle and looked to the small puncture wound, waiting to see what would happen. Tsuki snuggled closer in her sleep and the small puncture wound vanished.

               “Interesting. Perhaps you will be of use to me.” He smirked.


	5. Chapter 5

Kabuto returned to Orochimaru’s underground lair within the Land of Sound after gathering intel from a recent chunin exam he’d participated in, it had been a little over two years since Orochimaru had brought that girl. It frustrated him that Lord Orochimaru left without warning and came back with some weak girl that served no purpose. Surely, she’d be dead by now. Lord Orochimaru wasn’t in the habit of keeping things that had no use. Night had fallen as he broke through a clearing of trees near a small crystal-clear pool at the base of a waterfall not too far from the underground lair. His gaze was drawn to the water’s surface and his heart stuttered in his chest as he spotted a young woman with soft subtle curves, wearing a simple silken white gown that fell just past her pale thighs. Her hair fell down her slight frame in perfectly tousled silvery blonde waves. She danced beneath the moonlight with a smile humming an eerie tune looking like a moon fairy.

               It was the same girl! He retrieved a kunai from his ninja pouch and darted forward, he’d warned her if she tried to escape he’d kill her. He hurled a kunai at her with a deadly accuracy and his eyes widened in awe as she spun and caught the kunai in her hand with a slight squeak of panic. Her colorless eyes were wide with terror as she frantically scanned the surrounding area.

               “Tsuki?” Kabuto froze as he heard Lord Orochimaru’s voice from the shoreline. “Come here.”

               The girl vanished from view in an instant, her body flickering out of his line of sight. When the hell did she get so fast? He watched as she reappeared on the shoreline and his heart began to race as he spotted Lord Orochimaru at her side, his snake like eyes latching onto him in an instant.

               “Ah, so you’ve returned, Kabuto?”

               Tsuki’s colorless eyes flit in Kabuto’s direction and she took a tentative step behind the older shinobi with the long straight black as night hair and the deadly stare. Her body was trembling as she hid behind Lord Orochimaru. Kabuto reluctantly joined them on the shore line.

               “I thought she was escaping.” He admitted with a slight bow of his head to Orochimaru.

               “I believe I had instructed you not to kill her.” Orochimaru’s voice was an angry hiss.

               Kabuto stared in awe as the starlight girl lightly tugged on the back of the large purple rope tied around Lord Orochimaru’s waist. Did she have a death wish? He was clearly angry. What was she trying to do?

               Orochimaru sighed, but his anger seemed to dissipate, “That’s enough for tonight, Tsuki. Go back to your room.”

               Tsuki bowed her head somberly, but knew better than to protest. She stepped forward and returned the kunai to Kabuto only to jump as he lashed out and caught her wrist in a painfully tight grasp and wrenched her closer to him. The kunai she’d handed him had blood on the blade, yet when he inspected her palm, there wasn’t a scratch. There was something strange about this girl. He didn’t like how close she appeared to be to Lord Orochimaru or that she seemed to have become skilled in his absence. Was she trying to take his place?

               “Sorry for startling you, I thought you’d been injured.” He lied swiftly as he released her from his grip leaving a dark purple hand print around her dainty wrist.

               “Goodnight, Kabuto-san.” She bowed her head politely before disappearing back to the lair as she had been instructed. This only irritated him further, he couldn’t stand how soft spoken and spineless the girl was. She was scared of everything.

               Kabuto looked to the pale androgynous man with the piercing gaze wondering why he kept the girl around. Lord Orochimaru didn’t seem to have an interest in such things as carnal desire, so he couldn’t be keeping the girl around for her body. He’d never informed Kabuto of any kind of experiments or tests, though he did have the girl in the lab often when she first arrived. It was obvious from her speed and agility that Lord Orochimaru had personally been training her, but why?

               “Anything that caught your attention?”

               “What? Of course not, she’s weak and useless.”  Kabuto looked up startled.

               Those snake like eyes narrowed into a glare, “From your findings. Not about the girl.” His voice was an angry hiss. Why was he so protective of her?

               “Ah.” Kabuto handed over a stack of cards he’d stored information on from his experience during the chunin exam, “Nothing really.”

               “Good work.” Orochimaru said after a moment of flipping through the intel and returned the stack of cards before heading off in the direction of the underground lair.

               They walked back in silence as Kabuto wracked his brain to figure out what Lord Orochimaru could possibly see in such an infuriating girl. From the moment he first met her, he hated her, everything about her. Her soft sweet voice stirred him up, the fear in her freakish eyes every time he was near her always made him want to bully her and most of all he despised how close she was to Lord Orochimaru.

 On the path ahead, glowing in the starlight was Tsuki kneeling next to a dying deer with tears glistening in her eyes. Her dress, the ends of her hair and her hands were drenched in blood. She turned as she sensed their approach.

               “Help.” She sniffled.

               Kabuto smirked, waiting for Lord Orochimaru to lash out at the girl for disobeying his orders and wasting her time with something so trivial. Instead, he was surprised as Orochimaru approached the girl and placed a hand on her head.

               “It’s too late, Tsuki. You’re just wasting time, prolonging its suffering with your futile attempts to save it.” He swept the blood covered girl into his arms before turning to Kabuto. “Put it out of its misery, Kabuto.”

               Kabuto did as he was bid, ending the deer’s suffering as he looked to the odd pair. Who the hell was this girl? What was she to Lord Orochimaru?


	6. Chapter 6

Tsuki hesitated outside of the lab, her hand hovering in front of the door preparing to knock. Kabuto had returned from whatever mission Orochimaru had sent him on and he scared her. She was able to relax when he was away. When Orochimaru didn’t need her for training or lab work, she spent her time cooking, cleaning and exploring the massive underground fortress. Everyday she’d bring Orochimaru meals to the lab, he never scolded her for it and always finished his meal, she thought she was being helpful, but with Kabuto back, would he see it as a nuisance?

               She knocked softly and nearly lost her hold on the two plates in her hands as the door to the lab was wrenched open and an angry Kabuto greeted her with a piercing glare. Tsuki took a shaky step back and bowed her head apologetically.

               “What are you doing?!” Kabuto growled.

               “I-I brought lunch.” Tsuki squeaked.

               “Don’t interfe-.”

               “Leave her be, Kabuto.” Orochimaru’s voice cracked like a whip from within the lab causing the pair to jump. “Come in, Tsuki.” His voice was soft as he addressed the girl which only infuriated Kabuto more.

               Tsuki scrambled past Kabuto in terror as he glared at her furiously. She set a plate of food next to where Orochimaru was working and hesitantly set one in front of Kabuto as he returned to the desk he’d been sitting at only to cringe as he shot her another glare.

               “Thank you Tsuki.” Orochimaru waved her off dismissively, not looking up from his research.

               Tsuki bowed politely before scampering out of the lab. She went to deliver lunch to Kimimaro, a boy of thirteen, four years her junior, that was devoted to Lord Orochimaru. He was the sole survivor of a very unique clan that possessed a kekkei genkai that allowed them to project bones from their body. Kimimaro was a soft-spoken boy with shoulder length pale white hair, jade green eyes and two scarlet dots on his forehead above his eyebrows.

               His jade eyes looked up as she appeared in the training hall where he was currently shooting projectile bones from his fingertips at various targets. “What is it?”

               “I brought lunch.” Tsuki said softly with a smile that instantly calmed the teenager.

               “Thanks.”

               Through her days of exploring she’d bumped into various other underlings of Orochimaru, but Kimimaro was the only one that was kind to her. The others she’d bumped into were aggressive and scary so she did her best to keep her distance from everyone in the fortress save for Lord Orochimaru and Kimimaro. Once Kimimaro was finished with his lunch he looked to the pale girl curiously.

               “Was it okay?” Tsuki asked worried.

               “Your cooking is always good.” He smiled softly after a moment.

               Tsuki let out a sigh of relief before taking his empty plate and heading back to the kitchen, she stopped by the lab to pick up the dishes from Kabuto and Orochimaru, but hesitated as she realized they weren’t sitting outside. Usually Orochimaru just set his plate outside the door so she could collect it without disturbing his research.

               She stood outside of the door, not sure what to do. After what happened earlier and the night before, she really didn’t want to run into Kabuto. He hated her and was quick to lash out at her. Deciding it was best to knock, she lightly rapped on the door and waited for a response. There wasn’t one. Her heart began to pound in her chest.

               Hesitantly she pushed to door open only to let out a panicked squeak as a hand lashed out and gripped her wrist in a tight hold that made her bones crack in protest. She was wrenched forward with enough force she was sure her arm had been pulled from it’s socket, dislocating her shoulder in an instant causing her to let out a soft cry of pain. Another hand gripped her by the neck and she gasped as her back was slammed against a nearby wall. Her colorless eyes welled with tears as she thought of the man who’d assaulted her before as she met Kabuto’s dark gaze.

               “You’re infuriating.” Kabuto growled, “What are you to Lord Orochimaru?” He demanded as he tightened his grip around her neck.

               “S-stop.” Tsuki gasped as she felt her oxygen supply beginning to get cut off.

               “Did you forget who gives the orders around here?” He hissed angrily.

               “N-no.” Tsuki choked as she tried to catch her breath. This wasn’t good and Orochimaru was nowhere in sight. He was going to choke the life from her if she didn’t do something. She summoned a gust of wind that tore Kabuto away from her and sent him flying across the room. Coughing and sputtering in an attempt to catch her breath, Tsuki fell to her knees and reached up to rub her aching neck.

               Her colorless eyes glanced upward and she let out a squeak of terror as Kabuto lunged for her looking absolutely livid as she’d sent him crashing into some glass beakers by accident. She flinched and threw her arms over her head as she cowered on the floor bracing herself for impact. Nothing happened.

               “What’s going on?” Orochimaru’s voice sounded in a snake like hiss. Tsuki chanced a glance and stared with wide eyes as she realized that Orochimaru had arrived just in time to stop Kabuto from seriously injuring her.

               “She’s in the way and doesn’t know her place.” Kabuto pointed.

               Tsuki looked to Orochimaru fearfully, wondering if he’d believe Kabuto. She cringed as his piercing reptilian gaze fell on her, his eyes narrowing into a glare. He reached for her and she instinctively flinched and tried to pull away, but as she was still flattened against the wall, she had nowhere to run. His hand caught her by the wrist and she let out a hiss of pain as she was wrenched to her feet.

               “Come with me.” His voice was cold and dripping with irritation.

               As she was dragged out of the lab she noticed Kabuto smirking victoriously. She stumbled to keep up with Orochimaru’s long strides and resisted the urge to whimper as it felt like he was going to rip her other arm out of socket as he dragged her along behind him. Her heart thundered in her chest beating so hard and so loudly she was sure he could hear it.

               They reached his private quarters and Tsuki let out a yelp as she was wrenched forward and released so suddenly. She lost her balance and hit the floor, wincing as she tried to catch herself and both of her arms protested.

               “I’m sorry.” She squeaked in terror as she instinctively cowered on the floor fearful of what he would do to her.

               He sighed and took a step away from her. “Don’t leave this room until I tell you.”

               Tsuki looked up at him curiously. He wasn’t angry with her. She nodded her understanding.

               “Come here.” He ordered her softly and smirked as she staggered to her feet and slowly shuffled toward him, her body was tense still thinking he was going to lash out at her. “I’m not going to hurt you, Tsuki.” He sighed in annoyance.

               She hesitated before clearing the space between them and dropping her gaze to the floor. He reached out and tenderly brushed his fingers across the bruised flesh on her neck. The pain began to lessen and ebb away at his touch.

               “Orochimaru-sama?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

               “What is it?” He grumbled as he placed one hand on her dislocated shoulder and gripped her arm with the other. Tsuki winced as he popped her shoulder back into place, but her pain began to subside at his touch.

               “Why does Kabuto-san hate me?”

               She jumped as she saw his hand appear in front of her face and flinched instinctively. He gently brushed her silvery blonde hair out of her face tucking it behind her ear so he could look upon her. After what had happened at the prison he’d left her at, she recoiled anytime anyone tried to touch her, it was a reflex now.

               “Hmm. I wonder.” Orochimaru pondered aloud as he looked down at the starlight girl.

               Her pupil less eyes peered up at him curiously.

               “..If he really hates you, that is…” He smirked.

               What was that supposed to mean? “I don’t understand.” Tsuki frowned.

               “It’s nothing. Stay here until I fetch you. I have more tests to run.” He paused as Tsuki blanched at this, he’d been testing her over the years to see how much pain she could endure and what her body could recover from with her bloodlines ability. “If you cooperate, we can go outside tonight.”

               She bowed her head, biting her lip to keep it from trembling. “I understand.” Her voice was nothing more than a broken whisper.

               He left her without a word, leaving her in the dark and dreary room. Tsuki shivered, his room was always so cold. Wrapping her arms around herself she went to sit beneath the only lit sconce hoping the small fire would help keep her warm. When Kabuto had left before, Orochimaru moved some of her things into his room as he discovered she could only fall asleep in his presence. Now that Kabuto returned, she couldn’t help but worry she was going to be abandoned to her old room and struggle with sleep again.

               She stayed curled in a little ball beneath the fading glow of the sconce for hours too afraid to move as she worried about what was to come. Before long she heard the sound of approaching footsteps and felt her heart race unsteadily in her chest. The door opened and she peered up through a curtain of silvery blonde hair. Those snake like golden green eyes with vertical slits for pupils zeroed in on her and she felt her heart skip a beat.

               “Come, Tsuki.” Orochimaru beckoned her toward him.

               Reluctantly she got to her feet and shakily made her way toward him. She followed him to the lab in silence as her heart thundered in her chest. Experiments and tests always hurt. They got to the lab and Tsuki obediently went to sit on the metal exam table. Her gaze swept over a tray of instruments and she felt all the blood drain from her face, they were all knives, knives that looked like they could cleave through flesh and bone.

               “Drink this.” A cup of what appeared to be water was shoved into her trembling hands.

               She downed it quickly, knowing better than to ask questions and gasped as the liquid burned her throat. It wasn’t water! Clutching at her throat, she slipped from the metal table as her entire body began to burn. Tsuki collapsed with a cry of pain as her body seared. It was poison!

               Strong arms encircled her and after a few moments the pain began to subside, the burning ceased and she was left gasping for breath clinging to the twisted man who liked to torture her. He was gentle as he tried to console her, lightly rubbing her back as she tried to regulate her breathing.

               “Quite impressive.” He noted with a wicked smile as she recovered from the poison.

               “No more.” Tsuki pleaded with tears in her eyes, “Please.” She sniffled as she clung to him.

               “Hm. You’re quite disobedient today.” Orochimaru noted as he released her from his hold dropping her onto the metal table. “We’ve only just begun.”

               Tsuki forced herself to lay still, not wanting to anger him or risk not being able to go out in the moonlight after. She clenched her eyes tightly shut trying to keep herself composed and waiting for the tests to be over.  Like a human doll she let him move her to where he wanted her and endured the pain as he inflicted her with various wounds. The process went on for hours, he’d inflict an injury, before coddling her, cradling her against him to watch as it miraculously healed.

               By the time he was satisfied with the data he collected for the night, Tsuki was exhausted and her body trembled from the aftershocks of their research session. It was really just an excuse for him to torture her. Maybe it made him feel a little better about being tethered to her if he could hurt her. Because she felt like she had cursed him, she endured, seeing it as penance for the curse she’d bestowed on him.

               “C-can we still go outside?” She asked him softly, her voice somewhat hoarse from her screams and cries of pain.

               “You look like you should res-.”

               “Please. I’m okay.” Tsuki piped up boldly as she shakily rose into a sitting position. Her world began to spin and she reached out gripping the edges of the metal table to steady herself. She attempted to get to her feet to prove her point, but once she was supporting her own weight, her knees buckled and she felt a rushing sensation in her head. Her vision blurred and she winced as her head began to pound. Her restorative abilities had limits.

               They discovered it was her chakra that restored all the damage, and once her chakra was depleted she couldn’t heal as quickly and it tended to have side effects. They’d been running tests for over two years now trying to build up her chakra reserves.

               Strong arms encircled her, “Tomorrow night.” He said softly, “No tests or experiments.”

               “R-really?” Tsuki asked wearily.

               “It’ll be a full moon.”  Orochimaru noted as he looked down at the pale girl in his arms.

               Her face lit up and she threw her arms around him, “Thank you, Orochimaru-sama.” She smiled a genuine smile that he’d never seen before. It stirred something within him, making him uneasy.

              


	7. Chapter 7

Tsuki was confined to Orochimaru’s quarters during the daytime while Kabuto was back, partially for her safety, but more for Orochimaru’s peace of mind as he was growing tired of saving her. She was perfectly capable of defending herself, especially against Kabuto. The boy was skilled, but Tsuki had raw natural talent, especially with nature types. Wind was her strongest, but she could also flawlessly wield water and lightning. She was far too soft and saw Kabuto as her senior, and someone to be obeyed.

               True to his word, once Kabuto had retired for the evening, Orochimaru returned to his private quarters to collect the girl. He found her waiting at the door wearing a simple white dress with a flowing skirt that floated around her legs as she spun. Her colorless eyes which usually revealed no sort of expression somehow looked bright and hopeful, the pale silver irises just barely shining through the whiteness of her eyes.

               He inclined a brow at her bemused by her behavior, “What are you doing?” He asked her feigning ignorance and held back a chuckle as her smile fell thinking he’d forgotten.

               “Ah, n-nothing.” Her voice was deflated and she shrank back.

               “Oh, I thought you wanted to see the moon-.”

               She flit to his side latching onto his arm with a bright smile that made his heart flutter unsteadily in his chest, “Yes, please!”

               Disentangling himself from her, a little more roughly than he intended, he shot her a look of warning, “Let’s go.”

               Tsuki bowed her head and followed after him quietly. Her gaze fell on the black crescent moon seared into her palm as she trailed after him in silence. The stories her grandmother used to tell her, romanticizing what it was to be bound to someone echoed through her mind, but clearly her grandmother was mistaken. Maybe something was wrong with Tsuki, maybe her bloodline abilities were weak and instead of being bound to her soulmate it bound her to whatever the opposite was. She wasn’t sure the cold-hearted man was capable of such feelings as love. He believed only in science, facts, research. Love wasn’t tangible and therefore wasn’t real.

               “Where do you want to go?” His cool voice shook her from her self-pitying thoughts and she was startled to find they were standing outside the lair’s entrance. The moon was bright and full and looked bigger than ever in the sky overhead, it was mesmerizing.

               “Can we go to the waterfall?” Tsuki asked meekly.

               He nodded and led the way.

               Tsuki smiled as she trailed along behind him loving the feeling of the cool spring dew on her bare feet. The air was crisp and cool and when she exhaled she could see her breath in the air, but she didn’t care if it was cold. She felt rejuvenated under the moon’s healing glow.

               They made it to a small clearing in the thick forest with a small crystal pool that dwindled into a small stream flowing to the east, one side of the pool was nothing but sheer rock from the mountain partially surrounding them. Water spilled over the edge into the crystal-clear pool from the mountain above, the other half of the pool was surrounded by the dense forest where the underground lair resided. Tsuki leapt onto the water’s surface with a quiet giggle. The cool water sent delightful shiver’s down her spine as she danced across the surface. Casting her arms out as she danced, lightly humming an eerie tune, the water reacted as she unconsciously activated her water style. It splashed up around her in beautiful cascading arcs glowing in the moonlight as she danced.

               Tsuki felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and halted her fluid movements as she turned to the shore. Orochimaru was watching her intently, looking annoyed. He averted his gaze as she cast a glance in his direction before finding a spot to sit beneath a tree near the shore where he could keep an eye on her as he skimmed through yet another book about her clan.

               A strong gust of wind swept through the clearing with a shriek and Tsuki looked up desolately as the sky began to fill with large thunderclouds. She concentrated on her chakra, shifting the wind currents around her and waved her hand dramatically as she envisioned the clouds shifting and moving, heading back to the west. The wind she created was much stronger than the earlier gust and nearly uprooted trees in the process as she pushed back the storm. She didn’t get to go outside very often, and she wanted to enjoy the moon as much as possible.

               Her hair stood on end once more and she turned to find his piercing gaze focused on her once again. She met his terrifying gaze and felt her heart skip a beat as he ensnared her in a single look. He tore his gaze away from her looking irritated, she could sense an uncertainty within him. Something was bothering him, but she knew better than to question him.

               Once she’d exhausted herself dancing beneath the moonlight, she retreated to the shore and flopped into the cool dewy grass with a sigh of contentment. After awhile she felt something tickling her feet and peered down only to let out a hushed giggle as she spotted two cute floppy eared rabbits sniffing at her toes tickling her with their whiskers.

               She rolled onto her belly only to gasp as she found a fawn laying in the grass near her head. It didn’t seem the least bit bothered by her moving around and laid down its head preparing for a snooze. Tsuki smiled to herself as the bunnies got brave and began climbing on her legs. She held out her hand and laughed as they nuzzled her fingertips.

               Orochimaru chanced a glance in her direction taking a break from his research only to stare in awe as he found the starlight girl surrounded by woodland creatures. If she didn’t hate violence so much, she’d be quite the hunter. She was so sweet and charming that other creatures let their guard down and flocked to her. He had a suspicion it would even work on people as she was a rare beauty, and her soft sweet nature was so inviting. People would instantly be lulled into a false sense of security, all she had to do was smile.

               He felt something stir within him as he watched her laughing in the dew-covered grass as she played with rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks. Her pale eyes flicked in his direction and her smile fell, she dropped her gaze as a faint rosy blush spread across her pallid cheeks. He didn’t normally watch her this much and it made her feel nervous. The sky was slowly starting to brighten as the sun began to rise filling the once black sky with pastel purples, pinks, and blues.

               “Tsuki, let’s go.” Orochimaru called to the girl as he rose to his feet. She was sensitive to light and the sun would be up soon.

               Tsuki said farewell to her woodland friends and hurried to his side. She cringed as the sun began its ascent into the sky. He’d never let her stay out this long before. It had been years since she’d seen the sun. Her skin began to itch as the forest began to brighten.

               They headed for the underground fortress at a leisurely pace. Orochimaru chanced a glance in the starlight girl’s direction as the sky brightened. She was squinting due to the brightness and her pale skin was already starting to turn pink.

               He swept her into his arms and ran back to the lair. Once they were safely indoors, he released her from his hold. Her skin had returned to normal and she bowed her head.

               “Thank you, Orochimaru-sama.”

               Orochimaru pat her on the head lightly and resisted the urge to smile as she let out an adorable squeak and looked up at him with wide eyes. “Time for bed.” He said tonelessly and stepped away from her leading the way to his private sleeping quarters.

               Tsuki ran to keep up with his long quick strides wondering why he took off so suddenly. She blindly raced after him struggling to keep up and in her haste missed her step, triggering one of the many traps. She fell through the floor with a shriek, only to fall short with a gasp as a strong hand encircled her wrist.

               “Tsuki.” Orochimaru glared down at her in annoyance, “Don’t be a nuisance.”

               “S-sorry.” Tsuki flushed as he pulled her into his arms, deciding he’d get to his destination much faster if he just carried the troublesome teen.

              


	8. Chapter 8

Two years had gone by. Kabuto was constantly coming and going, he returned occasionally for short periods of time, but was sure to keep his distance from her. He’d nearly lost his life after attacking her in the lab. Orochimaru continued with his experiments, testing her limits, seeing what all she could recover from. Tsuki endured the nights of torture, it was her way of atoning for cursing him, for unconsciously binding him to her. She was his greatest weakness and if he got any joy out of torturing her and pushing her to her limits, then she would suffer through it. Orochimaru, Kabuto and Kimimaro had been leaving often for days at a time in preparation for whatever they were planning.

               Orochimaru left a smaller summoning snake with her to be his eyes and ears whenever he left the girl alone. He convinced himself it was to keep her out of trouble or from snooping, but it was more so for her protection and comfort, so she didn’t feel lonely. The girl was far too innocent to be involved in his plans and research, and he had no intentions of corrupting her. Her pure sweet temperament was calming. After years of torture, she still hadn’t broken, she was still able to smile at him and it made him question everything he knew about human behavior. Tsuki was definitely not normal.

               Upon his return to his private quarters, after being away for three days, he nearly jumped as he spotted the starlight girl, no, she was a young woman now. She was wearing a pale lavender dress that somehow clung to her sinful curves and hung loosely off of her at the same time. Her soft sweet smile was alluring and drew him in.

               “Welcome home, Orochimaru-sama.”

               His heart fluttered unsteadily. She always said it when he’d been away for more than a day, it was something he’d never heard before in his life and every time she said it, it made him feel strange which in turn caused him to become irritated and lash out at her. After being with the girl for so long, he understood why people called the Towa Clan, the Vampire Clan, it wasn’t just their sensitivity to light and their love of darkness. Vampires were alluring and drew in unsuspecting prey with their charms, just like Tsuki and the fact that she did it all unconsciously was worrisome. If she were to ever use her allure intentionally, she’d be lethal.

               “Is something wrong?” She asked worried as he lost himself in his thoughts. His terrifying gaze stopped her dead in her tracks as she made a move toward him.

               His glare softened as he saw fear in her pale silver eyes. It was always dark enough in his private quarters that he could make out the faint glow of her silver irises. “It’s nothing.” He reached for her and resisted the urge to smile as she kept herself from flinching. It had taken four years, but she no longer flinched when he touched her. “Were you lonely?”

               She shook her head with a smile, “Yuki-san kept me company.” Her gaze fell on the pure white summoning snake circling around her feet. There were dark circles beneath her eyes, she still couldn’t sleep when he was gone.

               “You look tired.” He frowned.

               Tsuki bowed her head, “S-sorry, I trie-.” She cut off with a squeak as she was swept off her feet. “O-Orochimaru-sama?” Her pale cheeks flushed scarlet as she clung to him to keep her balance.

               There was a knock at the door causing the pale girl to jump. She tried to scramble out of his grip to run and hide as she sensed a familiar presence on the other side of the door. A gasp escaped her as Orochimaru tightened his hold on her and turned to the door with a glare.

               “What is it?” He snapped icily causing Tsuki to shiver in his arms.

               “You told me to come to you with an update on Kimimaro’s condition.” Kabuto’s voice sounded from the other side of the door, it was steady though Tsuki could sense his unease, he didn’t like Orochimaru’s tone.

               “And?” Orochimaru asked, resisting the urge to smile as Tsuki futilely tried to run away. Though she wasn’t weak by any standard, she was still terrified of the boy.

               “May I come in?”

               Tsuki frantically shook her head, causing Orochimaru to smirk. “Very well.”

               “N-no.” Tsuki squeaked and tried once more to break from his hold and run, but she wasn’t nearly strong enough.

               The door creaked open and her heart dropped as Kabuto stepped in. He’d gotten taller over the past two years and his gaze had grown colder. His eyes fell on her in an instant, widening for a fraction of a second before looking away from her in annoyance. Why was she here? Was it possible that they had ‘that’ kind of relationship? Knowing better than to provoke Lord Orochimaru, he ignored the infuriating girl’s presence.  It had been two years since he’d last seen her and if possible, she’d grown even more beautiful. Her hair was longer, her skin looked softer and she appeared to have developed more curves than the last time he’d seen her.

               “Well?” Orochimaru asked in annoyance as he noticed Kabuto’s gaze drifting back to the girl in his arms.

               “He’s stable now, but he won’t be of any more use.” Kabuto said matter of factly.

               Tsuki looked to Orochimaru curiously, “What happened to Kimimaro?”

               “It doesn’t concern you.” Kabuto hissed at the girl causing her to squeak in terror.

               “Kabuto.” Orochimaru warned him.

               “Lord Orochimaru, why do you keep this useless girl around?” Kabuto snapped before he could stop himself. He felt his breath hitch in his throat as he was suddenly ensnared in Orochimaru’s lethal gaze.

               Tsuki threw her arms around Orochimaru’s neck sensing the rage bubbling up inside of him. She didn’t like it when he was angry and anytime she and Kabuto were in the same room, he ended up angry. After a moment he relaxed, his rage dissipating and he pat her on the head with a sigh releasing Kabuto from his lethal stare.

               “The girl is my concern, Kabuto, not yours. Don’t ask me again.” Orochimaru said darkly. “If that’s all you had to report, you can go now.”

               Kabuto bowed, shot one last dark look in Tsuki’s direction and took his leave. The girl infuriated and intrigued him. What was so special about her that she was almost always at Orochimaru’s side? He couldn’t help but worry she was trying to replace him even though she was never involved in any of their experiments. She was constantly on his mind and it was maddening. He had to know more about her, about their connection, but most importantly he needed to get rid of her. She was a hindrance and Lord Orochimaru appeared to be growing soft because of her.

              


	9. Chapter 9

Tsuki was starting to feel relaxed again, once Orochimaru informed her Kabuto would be leaving soon for awhile to participate in the chunin exam in the Hidden Leaf Village. She didn’t harbor any sort of resentment for the boy her age, but he was mean to her a lot over the years and lashed out at her often. She’d always tried her best to be polite and respectful to him, but that only seemed to make him hate her more. Because they were the same age, she’d always hoped they could be friends, but she didn’t think that was ever going to happen, he hated her.

               Orochimaru had left early in the morning and told her he wouldn’t be returning for a few days. He left her sedatives to take if she couldn’t sleep the first night. She hated sedatives, hated the vulnerable feeling they gave her. If she didn’t take them, her fatigue would affect him too, and she couldn’t put him at risk. He’d come back once before with a minor injury and she blamed herself, perhaps if she’d been able to sleep on her own he wouldn’t have gotten injured.

               While Orochimaru was away, she spent her time cleaning, exploring in the darkness and playing with Yuki, the pure white summoning snake he always left with her. After tidying up Orochimaru’s private quarters, she took a quick shower and changed into a simple grey dress that she often wore when cleaning. She pulled her long pale hair out of her face and tied it back in a ponytail as Yuki coiled around her legs on the floor, before making his way up her body and resting on her delicate shoulders. Yuki was fairly heavy, but it didn’t hinder her too much and they could cover more ground if she carried him.

               “Yuki-san, please don’t attack any bunnies today, you know it upsets me.” Tsuki commented as they made their way to the kitchen. A family of rabbits had moved into the hideout and were claiming a storage closet as their home and Tsuki had been bringing them vegetables to eat. Yuki, not knowing any better tried to eat one of the babies.

               The pure white snake nuzzled her neck affectionately as if to say he understood and wouldn’t do anything to upset her. Tsuki nearly had a meltdown when the snake tried to attack the family of rabbits. It had been so bad, that Orochimaru had come back early thinking something had happened to her and then scolded her for getting so upset over something so trivial.

               “If you get hungry…” Tsuki looked stumped for a moment, “I guess you probably wouldn’t eat cooked meat, would you?”

               Yuki shook his head.

               “What about raw meat, I think there’s beef…”

               Yuki peered up at her with bright emerald eyes before nuzzling her neck as if to say he would accept it.

               Tsuki bowed her head feeling guilty for making the snake change his diet for her peace of mind. “I’m sorry, Yuki-san.”

               She giggled as she felt his tongue lick her cheek.

               “Do you forgive me?” She asked sincerely only to giggle again as he nuzzled her cheek. “Thank you, Yuki-san.”

               Once they arrived at the kitchen Yuki went to curl up in a corner leaving the starlight girl to her war on dust and dirt. Tsuki set to work, dusting all the hard to reach places with a towel tied to a broom handle, it had been awhile since she’d given the place a deep cleaning.  After nearly an hour of dusting and cleaning she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, as if someone were watching her. Yuki moved from the corner.

               “You’re dismissed.” Orochimaru’s voice sounded from behind her, dismissing the summoning snake. He wasn’t supposed to be back yet and she didn’t feel his presence nearby.

               Tsuki felt her heart begin to race, something wasn’t right. “Yuki-san, no.” She called to the snake but it was too late, the summoning snake had disappeared. She jumped as a pair of arms encircled her from behind. “Let go!”

               A hand reached up and caught her neck in a deadly grip, before Orochimaru’s voice sounded in her ear, “Don’t defy me, girl.” It wasn’t him! It was his voice but the person using it wasn’t him.

               “You’re not Orochimaru.” Tsuki hissed and brought her elbow back with enough force, her attacker doubled over with a groan and she darted away from him, out in the open so she had a better range of motion and could get a good look at him.

               Her attacker straightened up and shot her a glare, they were using a transformation jutsu to look like Orochimaru, but their gaze didn’t hold the kind of power his did. She glanced down at the palm of his hand, which he often covered in the presence of others with a pair of fingerless gloves, there was no mark. This was an imposter.

               “That’s Lord Orochimaru to y-.”

               “You’re not him.” Tsuki clenched her fists at her sides, “Who are you and why are you trying to impersonate him?” Her heart was still racing, the transformation jutsu was almost perfect so it was still unsettling yelling at him.

               “Stupid girl.” He lunged forward in the blink of an eye. He moved too fast!

               Tsuki tensed and attempted to dodge out of the way, but her assailant was faster and caught her by the neck. She let out a gasp as she was suddenly shoved onto the dining table. Her assailant’s grip tightened around her neck threatening to cut off all her oxygen supply. Her mind was racing and all she could think of was what had happened four years ago with the prison guard. Tears welled in her eyes as she uselessly tried to fight off her assailant, he was stronger physically.

               Her assailant, pinned her hands over her head onto the table with his free hand, while tightening his grip on her neck. He leaned over her, pressing his body weight on top of her. In the back of her mind she could still hear the guard’s voice in her head, still feel his sickening touch, the heaviness of his body, the weight of his fists as they beat her until she was quiet. Something in her snapped as her assailant was about to steal a kiss, she let out an ear-piercing scream and fought and flailed to no end.

               He backhanded her as he lost his grip on her hands and struggled to get ahold of her again as she kicked, flailed and writhed around in a panic. Tsuki screamed as she was lost in a haunting vivid reliving of what had happened in the prison. Strong gale winds ripped through the kitchen, hurling her assailant away from her. The wind tore through walls, appliances and her assailant ducked into the hall for cover. A pipe burst nearby as a blade of wind sliced through it and water sprayed everywhere.

               Once her screams died down, she curled into a ball atop the table and cried silently. “Orochimaru-sama, please come back.” She sniffled as she clutched her hand with the mark of her bond seared into it to her chest.

               The imposter Orochimaru peered out from around the corner, hesitating to approach the now crying girl. “You’re so infuriating.” He grumbled.

               Tsuki froze at this, “K-kabuto-san?” She turned to the imposter with wide eyes.

               His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he vanished into thin air. Tsuki stared after him in awe, her body trembled unsteadily. It was Kabuto, he tried to attack her, and he tried to kiss her and she had no idea which action disturbed her more. She felt sick to her stomach. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she sensed a familiar presence approaching fast.

               “Tsuki?” She jumped at the sound of his voice, despite herself and turned. Her heart skipped a beat as she spotted him standing in the doorway surveying the scene before him with worry. His snake like eyes flit in her direction, she was tense. He frowned as he noticed her jump at the sound of his voice, something had happened.

               The summoning snake he’d left with her was nowhere to be found. It wouldn’t have left unless it had been dismissed and it would only take orders from him. A worrisome thought crossed his mind, if someone were to pull off a successful transformation jutsu it could fool the snake, but why would someone do that? A small thin dribble of blood seeped from the corner of her lip. There were bruises on the pale girl’s wrists and arms, someone had tried to restrain her but from the state the kitchen was currently in, that didn’t work out too well for them. There were deep slashes that had sliced through walls and even the appliances, and from the amount of water on the ground, even the pipes.

               Orochimaru approached the trembling girl cautiously. He’d sensed her terror and distress, it was like that night four years ago and he’d been worried about what state he’d find her in.

“Are you alright?” He asked her as he helped her into a sitting position.

               She nodded. Her body was trembling. It must have brought back memories. He’d tried to tamper with her mind, to help her forget, but it didn’t work. The only thing he could successfully get her to forget was the location of the lair, it was a safety precaution. If she were ever to stray too far from the lair she’d forget how to find her way back.

               “What happened?”

               “You’ll be angry…” Her voice was whisper soft.

               He reached out and caught her chin in his hand dragging her gaze to meet his, “I’m already angry, Tsuki.” His voice came out in an animalistic growl that instantly struck her with terror.

               “What happened here?” Kabuto’s voice sounded from the doorway in mock surprise.

               Orochimaru noticed the slightest muscle twitch in Tsuki as she tensed at the sound of Kabuto’s voice and in an instant, he knew exactly what had happened. Kabuto who foolishly didn’t understand his own feelings for the girl and tended to lash out at her at every turn, had tried to trick her, but what was he hoping to accomplish? Or was it possible he figured out at least part of his feelings for the girl, which scared him and made him lash out in a different way?

               Kabuto froze as Orochimaru shot a glare in his direction. Sensing Orochimaru’s murderous aura, Tsuki slipped off the table as he turned to Kabuto and wrapped her arms around him from behind surprising Kabuto and Orochimaru alike. What was she doing?

               “Welcome home.” Her soft sweet voice was soothing, quelling his rage.

               He chanced a glance downward at her hands interlocked around his middle and watched as the bruises on her wrists and arms faded away to nothing. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Kabuto staring at her arms in awe. The boy had no knowledge of the link between Tsuki and Orochimaru. Once she was sure Orochimaru wasn’t going to kill Kabuto, Tsuki released him and took a step away. Why did she stop him?

               Orochimaru placed a hand atop her head with a sigh, “Kabuto, clean up this mess.” He grumbled before heading off in the direction of his private quarters, “Come along, Tsuki.”

               Tsuki scampered after him.

               Once they reached his private quarters, Tsuki bowed apologetically, “I’m sorry, you had to leave ear-.”

               She cut off with a gasp as he grabbed her by the shoulder pulling her out of her bow. His lethal golden green eyes with the vertical slits for pupils stared down at her intensely, “It’s not your fault, Tsuki.” He sighed before releasing her from his hold. “I am curious as to why you saved him, though.”

               Tsuki flushed at this, “You said he was a valuable assistant. Isn’t your work going more smoothly with him?”

               “That’s true.” Orochimaru noted, though Tsuki’s healing abilities were on another level entirely, if only he’d corrupt her, he would have no need for Kabuto who could keep test subjects alive to undergo hundreds of tests. If he were to use Tsuki’s Towa Clan abilities she could keep subjects alive indefinitely, but the girl was too soft and he didn’t want to see her upset. “You saved him, for me?”

               Her face reddened at this, “Y-yes.”

               “Thank you, Tsuki.” He pat her on the head.

               “Orochimaru-sama?” She said his name sweetly as she peered up at him through colorless eyes.

               “Hm?”

               “Please don’t be mad at Yuki-san.”

               Orochimaru smirked at this, “You’ve taken a liking to that snake.”

               Tsuki smiled, a bright smile that made his heart skip a beat in his chest, he had no idea how she could be bright and charming after all he’d put her through. “I think Yuki-san and I will be great friends.”

               “Would you like to form a summoning contract with him?” Orochimaru asked her curiously only to stop and stare as she grinned.

               “Really?! Can I?!”

               Orochimaru retrieved a summoning contract from the many piles of scrolls Tsuki had organized neatly for him on the bookcase. He set it down on the writing desk and beckoned her forward. She looked down at the contract and paused as she spotted two other contractors names next to Orochimaru’s Kabuto and someone by the name of Anko Mitarashi.

               “Who’s that?” Tsuki asked curiously.

               Orochimaru followed her gaze, “An old student of mine.”

               “What happened?”

               “She served her purpose.” Orochimaru shrugged before retrieving a kunai. He caught her wrist in his hand and pricked her thumb before she had a moment to react.

               Tsuki winced at the sudden pain and before she could ask what to do, Orochimaru pressed her bleeding thumb to the paper and guided her to write out her name in blood. Once the contract was complete she let out a gasp as she was wrenched into his arms. She squeaked as he wrapped his arms around her until the wound on her thumb closed. He released her from his hold once her wound healed.

               “Try it.” He sounded impatient, she had taken him away from whatever he’d been doing, he was probably in a hurry to get back.

               Tsuki struggled to regulate her breathing and took a shaky step away from him, “Yuki-san please accept.” She whispered before gathering her chakra, “Summoning Jutsu.”

               Yuki appeared in a puff of smoke.

               “Yuki-san!” Tsuki cheered as the snake coiled around her legs. “Thank you for accepting.” She smiled as he slithered up to her shoulders and nuzzled her neck affectionately.

               “Don’t leave this room until morning. Kabuto will be gone by then.” Orochimaru ordered her sternly interrupting her and Yuki’s joyful reunion.

               “Y-yes Orochimaru-sama.” Tsuki bowed.

               “Don’t forget to take those.” He indicated the sedatives on the bedside table, “Starting tomorrow evening.”

               Tsuki frowned but nodded her understanding.

              


	10. Chapter 10

Tsuki woke with a start, her head was swimming. Her body felt heavy. There was a gentle warm breeze brushing across her revealed skin. She struggled to open her eyes only to flinch as her retinas burned, it was daylight and she was outside. What was going on? Panicked she rolled into a sitting position and tried to feel around behind her, only to gasp as she found her hands bound behind her back. Her arms were numb from laying on them for so long.

               Her heart began to race. She had no idea where she was or how to get back to the underground lair. She felt the trunk of a tree behind her, whoever had brought her here knew she was weak to sunlight and thought to leave her in the shade.

               She heard what sounded like explosions in the distance and the sounds of people fighting. Where was she? Tsuki struggled against her bonds trying to break free. Why was she tied up? A worrisome thought crossed her mind. The last thing she remembered clearly was taking the sedatives Orochimaru had left her. There was another memory, though she wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t a dream. She thought she remembered someone restraining her and forcing her to ingest something, but it was fuzzy.

               She attempted to adjust her sitting position; her leg slipped out of the safety of the shade and she let out a hiss of pain as her leg began to sear. Pulling her leg back into the shadows, she tried to get a sense for what time of day it was and how much longer she’d have cover.  Her pulse began to race unsteadily as she sensed a disturbance with Lord Orochimaru. The mark on the palm of her hand began to itch and burn. Something was wrong. He was in trouble.

               The sunlight burned her retinas as she tried a second time to open her eyes. She squinted in an attempt to minimize the blinding light and reduce the damage and was briefly able to make out her surroundings. She was in a forest, there were trees all around her. Snapping her eyes tightly shut again she tried to focus on Orochimaru’s presence. He wasn’t too far away, maybe a kilometer. There were more explosions in the distance, sounding like they were coming from the direction she sensed Orochimaru’s presence.

               Her arms began to tingle and for a moment she thought the bonds keeping her arms behind her back were cutting off circulation until the tingling turned to burning. She let out a cry as her arms began to sear with pain, something was definitely wrong with Orochimaru! It was pure agony, it felt like her arms were being dipped in acid, she bit her lip to keep from crying out, but the pain was too great.  Blood dribbled from her lip as she pierced through in her anguish and she couldn’t hold back her screams.

               The shadows around her shifted and she cried as her leg began to burn. She rolled to the other side of the trunk trying to conceal herself in the shadows. There were voices in the distance and approaching quickly. Someone had heard her scream. She squinted in an attempt to get a glimpse of her surroundings, she saw a group of men, all wearing matching shinobi attire with navy blue pants and long sleeve shirts and hunter green vests. They were approaching fast. Tsuki attempted to break from her bonds as she sensed Orochimaru’s presence on the move, he was moving further away from her!

               “Hey, look over there!” A voice called out and Tsuki screamed as a kunai pierced the trunk of the tree next to her face.

               Her body moved on autopilot, twisting over and sliding her arms up, she managed to cut her bonds on the kunai before cupping her hands above her eyes so she could look around. There were more men approaching, fast and they didn’t look friendly. She left the safety of the shade and bolted deeper into the forest with a cry. Why were they chasing her?!

               “Get back here!”

               Agony wormed through her, she chanced a glance down at her arms, they had turned a pale blueish purple and now felt like someone was slowly peeling off her skin, layer by layer cutting down to the bone. She winced as all of her revealed skin began to burn in the sunlight as she attempted to escape her pursuers.

               “Leave me alone!” She cried hoping they’d stay away from her, she didn’t want to fight them. She had to find Orochimaru, he was in excruciating pain, he needed her.

               The men pursuing her were not deterred by her pleas. Unable to take the pain from the scorching sun any longer Tsuki threw herself into the nearby underbrush concealing herself in some bushes. There were burns forming all over her body from the sun’s harsh rays. A kunai pierced her in the shoulder and she let out a cry of pain as she toppled from her hiding spot only to whimper as she fell into direct sunlight. It burned her mercilessly and she tried to scramble back to safety of the shade. A hand lashed out and caught her by the back of the neck halting her escape and she cried as she felt some of the burns begin to bubble.

               “Let go!” She wailed. Strong gale winds ripped through the forest around her, she could hear it slicing through trees, and boulders as it hurtled toward them. Her captor released her from his hold as he flit to safety and she scurried back into the bushes and collapsed face first in the dirt. Breathing was a struggle; her entire body was in pure agony. If she didn’t get to safety soon, she’d just be making things worse for Orochimaru, he could fee her pain and he was already in more than enough pain.  Tears welled in her eyes. She had no idea how to get back to the lair and Orochimaru’s presence was faint and fading, he was in a weakened state. His life was in danger.

               Two sets of hands lashed out and caught her wrists and she let out a shriek as her skin seared beneath their touch. Their hands were like hot irons branding her skin. She attempted to struggle out of their hold. Why were they attacking her? What had she done to them?

               “NO!” Tsuki screamed as she felt someone trying to wrench her to her feet. Another strong gust of wind tore through the forest around them slashing at her assailants.

               “You’re coming with us!” A man’s voice snarled and she let out a yelp as whoever was gripping her left wrist practically ripped her arm out of its socket as she was dragged to her feet.

               Tsuki squinted trying to get a look at her surroundings there were six men surrounding her, two of them were struggling to keep her on her feet between them. They were in small patch of shade due to the cluster of trees around them. She bit her lip. She’d have to fight.

               “I’m sorry.” She bowed her head, “I don’t want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice.”

               She kicked her leg out striking the guy to her left with a powerful blow to the gut that was sure to rupture internal organs. He went flying, releasing his hold on her wrist. Her body moved on autopilot swinging around with her free hand landing a powerful chop to the neck of the man holding her right wrist instantly knocking him unconscious. She lunged forward gathering chakra in her hands and swung her fist forward toward the remaining four shinobi. Her fist connected with the air and her chakra burst forward unleashing a vortex of wind sending the remaining shinobi flying.

               “Sorry!” Tsuki bowed in apology before taking off at a run in the direction she sensed Orochimaru’s presence. His life force seemed to be fading, he was gravely injured. “Orochimaru-sama, please be okay.” She pleaded as she ran as fast as she could, trying to keep to the shadows to avoid causing him anymore pain.

               Two men stepped out in front of her, blocking her path. One had silvery white hair sticking up, he was wearing the same attire as the men who had been pursuing her before, but more than half of his face was covered with a navy mask, leaving only his right steel grey eye was revealed. The second man had straight black hair in a bowl cut and was wearing a green bodysuit with the same hunter green vest over top.

               Tsuki skidded to a stop and retreated a few steps to catch her bearings. Her body was still in excruciating pain, breathing was becoming increasingly difficult and she’d used up a lot of chakra already. “Please get out of my way.”

               “No can do.” The man with the bowl cut said simply as the man with the silvery white hair gathered an immense amount of lightning chakra into his hand and lunged for her. He was fast!

               “I don’t want to fight you!” Tsuki cried.

               The man with the silvery white hair swung at her with his electric attack. Tsuki’s body moved instinctively remembering her tireless training with Orochimaru. She gathered her own lightning chakra into her hand and caught his hand in hers using her own lightning chakra to negate his. His single revealed steel grey eye grew wide as she nullified his attack.

               “Please leave me alone.” She released him from her hold, only to wince as he caught her wrist in his hand. “I don’t want to hurt you, but if you don’t get out of my way, I will be forced to.” Tears welled in her colorless eyes.

               “You’re coming with us.” He growled as his grip tightened on her wrist causing her to let out a gasp of pain.

               “Please forgive me.” Tsuki said solemnly as a calm focus washed over her, she had to get to Orochimaru. She swung at him with her free hand, only for him to catch it with ease.  Her body moved unconsciously, she used her right leg to sweep behind her attacker hitting the back of his legs as she simultaneously brought up her left leg hitting him in the neck as she knocked his feet out from under him.  She brought her right knee upward as they fell kneeing him in the gut as she landed. His grip loosened and she broke from his hold and lunged for the man in green.

               Her heart fell as she heard the familiar ‘poof’ of a shadow clone and let out a scream as a hand lashed out from the ground and circled her ankle. She was moving too fast and the sudden stop sent her flying face first to the dirt. The man in green jumped into action apprehending her and binding her hands behind her back. She’d been captured! Tsuki struggled to break free, but her captors were too strong and with her hands bound uselessly behind her, she couldn’t perform any ninjutsu.


	11. Chapter 11

Tsuki’s heart was racing as she found herself once again trapped in a small cell, her hands were bound and secured to the wall above her head. The cell was exactly like the one she’d been left in for eight years, the one where that guard did unspeakable things to her. She could hear raised voices outside of her cell, there was some kind of meeting happening, there were dozens of furious voices wanting retribution. From what she could make out from their arguing, Orochimaru had attacked The Hidden Leaf Village, and killed The Third Hokage. Why would he do that? Did that mean these people were bad people?

               “I say we interrogate the girl, by any means necessary and make her talk.” One voice growled outside of her cell.

               Tsuki couldn’t seem to catch her breath as her mind wandered back to her last experience in captivity and the nightmare she’d gone through. Her pulse was racing and her head was swimming with vile memories she’d tried so hard to block out.

               “We don’t even know if she was with him, she was tied up when we found her!” Someone yelled in her defense.

               “She hospitalized a man!” Probably the man she’d kicked, she hadn’t meant to be so rough, but he had almost ripped her arm out of its socket.

               “She seemed really upset about it, and she apologized.” Another voice interjected, “I don’t think she was part of the attack.”

               “She didn’t want to fight with us when we caught up to her and she didn’t attack first.” The familiar voice of the man with the silvery white hair and the mask that covered the majority of his face added.

               Tsuki looked down at the revealed skin on her legs, poking out from her simple lilac dress. Her skin was raw, red, and bleeding in some spots from the severe burns from being in the sun. A glance at her shoulder and she noticed the kunai was missing, at least someone was nice enough to remove it, though none of her wounds had been tended to. Perhaps they only removed it so she wouldn’t have a weapon.

               She tried to struggle against her bonds and cringed when she heard the clank of chains and a hush fell outside of her cell. Her heart pounded in her chest, they knew she was conscious! Futilely she fought against her bonds as she heard several pairs of footsteps approaching her dimly lit cell. A bright light flickered on above her and she let out a hiss of pain as it burned her retinas. The light was too bright and it began to irritate her already burned skin. Desperately she tried to curl herself into a ball, tucking her legs into her dress in an attempt to shield herself from the light.

               “Turn off the light!” Someone shouted as her cell door slid open with a foreboding shriek of metal.

               Tsuki hesitatingly opened her eyes and let out a squeak of terror as three men approached her. She could hear the guard’s voice in the back of her mind growing louder with each step they took. When the first man reached her side and made a move to reach for her, she let out a blood curdling scream. Strong gale winds slashed through the room causing the three men to take cover outside of the cell to avoid getting sliced to ribbons.

               “What the hell?!” There was a chorus of shouts.

               “I have an idea that might work.” An unfamiliar voice noted as the cell door wailed shut.

               After a few minutes of nothing, Tsuki panicked as she heard the sound of compressed air. She chanced a glance upward at a vent and hurriedly held her breath as a cloud of pale purple smoke flooded through. Were they using poison gas? The entire cell filled with the gas in no time at all and Tsuki struggled to hold her breath. She couldn’t die here! She managed to hold her breath for ten minutes, but the gas still wouldn’t dissipate. When she could no longer hold her breath she choked and the gas filled her lungs. No!

               Her vision turned fuzzy and the small barren cell began to spin. She felt herself slipping from consciousness, perhaps it was just sleeping gas.

               …

               Moments later, Tsuki woke lying flat on her back. There was a gentle cool evening breeze delicately caressing her skin soothing her burned flesh. Her eyes fluttered open, the moon was looming in the sky above her. She reached upward with bound hands in an attempt to catch the moon as she struggled to regulate her breathing. How did she get here? Where was she?

               Her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate as she soaked in the moonlight. She could sense the presence of several people around her and knew she hadn’t managed to get away from her captors. Someone stepped forward, approaching her slowly being careful not to spook her.

               “We have some questions.” His voice was soft and calming and there was pity in his deep blue green eyes. He wore the same attire as the men who’d attacked her, the navy pants and long-sleeved shirt with the hunter green vest overtop. His hair was a dusty golden color and was spiky in the front and fell into a long ponytail down his back.  He knelt beside her but kept his distance, making no move to grab her.

               Tsuki looked around carefully, there were a lot more people surrounding her on the rooftop, and they all appeared to be quite strong. She wouldn’t be able to fight them all off in her current condition. Her body ached all over from the burns from the sun and the pain in her arms, the pain that wasn’t hers was practically blinding. Something terrible had happened to Orochimaru.

               “What’s your name?” The man asked her, his voice still calm and gentle. Were they really bad people?

               “Tsuki.”

               “Do you know a man by the name of Orochimaru?”

               Tsuki hesitated as she felt everyone else tense. “Yes.”

               “Do you also know a man by the name of Kabuto?”

               Tsuki flinched instinctively at the mention of Kabuto’s name. A worrisome thought crossed her mind, it was possible that Kabuto was the one responsible for her waking up where she did, in enemy territory. “Y-yes.”

               “Inoichi, you should read her mind.” A voice from the circle of terrifying men sounded from behind her.

               “She’s scared.” The kind man at her side said softly, “And if you hadn’t noticed, she doesn’t like to be touched.”

               Tsuki shifted uncomfortably, what did they mean by reading her mind? Was that possible? Her colorless eyes looked to the man at her side warily as her body tensed.

               “She’s obviously with them, she knows them, don’t be soft-.” Someone else snapped.

               “I’m not so sure of that.” A man with unruly snow-white hair, wearing a strange sage like outfit in pale dusty hunter green and deep crimson noted as he stepped forward. He was older than the others and everyone looked to him with respect when he spoke.

               “What do you mean, Master Jiraiya?”

               “She was tied up and left here. I’d wager to guess she knows absolutely nothing about what they were planning and was meant to be a distraction for their escape.” The white-haired man pointed with a shake of his head, “Seems like something he’d do. Sacrifice an innocent to get away.” He knew Orochimaru, but he was wrong, Orochimaru would never put her at risk. It wasn’t him. It had to have been Kabuto.

               The man they’d called Inoichi, kneeling beside her looked to her with a reassuring smile, “Tsuki, relax for a moment. I won’t hurt you.” He reached out and placed a hand to her forehead.

               Tsuki instinctively flinched, but her body was too beaten down to resist. She clamped her eyes shut and let out a gasp as she felt a presence within her own mind, sifting through painful memories. It was like someone was digging through the darkest recesses of her mind forcing her to relive every horrific experience she’d gone through. Dozens of memories played through in her minds eye at hyper speed. When it got to the memory of the guard, she let out a scream and gathered as much chakra as she could, turning it into an electrical current and expelling him from her mind.

               “Inoichi!” The men surrounding them raced forward to apprehend the girl as their comrade fell back with a gasp of pain.

               “Don’t touch her!” The kind man with the dusty golden hair snapped before anyone could grab her before swearing under his breath. “The kid’s been through enough, just don’t touch her.” His deep blue green eyes looked down at her filled with pity, “She’s not his subordinate. She’s his prisoner.” He misunderstood, he only saw her most painful memories, filled with torture and abuse.

               Tsuki cringed as her arm began to sear, it was a new pain. There was a tingling sensation, she glanced down at her arm as a black snake like mark began to appear coiling around her arm, it was the mark Manda had given her. Her body began to feel strange as if her cells were starting to dematerialize as the mark began to glow.

               “What’s happening?”

               Tsuki gasped as she vanished from the rooftop and reappeared in a puff of smoke in some strange place she’d never been. They sky was a strange purple color with black clouds, there wasn’t a sun, moon or any stars anywhere insight just a purple sky with black clouds. She had no way of telling if it was day or night in this strange place. Her legs trembled as she attempted to get to her feet. The snake like marking was still glowing on her arm. What happened?

               She looked around the vast rocky wasteland. It appeared wherever she had landed was atop a sea of endless canyons of rock. Next to her was a sheer drop into a pitch-black fissure that seemed to be emitting some kind of toxic smoke. Her colorless eyes scanned her surroundings searching for any sign of life, but there wasn’t any.

               “Hello?” She called out tentatively as she scanned the rocky ground for something sharp enough to break from her bonds. As her gaze fell on a jagged rock on the opposite side of the wide fissure, she heard a low deep growl emitting from the pitch-black fissure.

               “Who dares to disturb The Great Manda’s slumber?!” A deafening voice echoed through the endless canyons.

               Tsuki flopped onto her stomach and peered over the edge of the cliff, “Manda-sama? Is that you?” She felt relief flood through her as the colossal deep purple serpent rose from the fissure, his piercing emerald eyes latching onto her in an instant. “Manda-sama!”

               “Hm, if it isn’t the charming child, all grown up.” The giant serpent’s voice shook the ground and Tsuki was grateful she was lying down otherwise she’d probably have ended up falling off the cliff.

               “Manda-sama, do you know how I got here?” Tsuki asked curiously as she tried to inch over to a pile of rocks and saw through her bonds.

               Noticing the girl’s weakened state and her struggle with her bonds, the serpent lashed out with his forked tongue and released her from her restraints. “You must have been in enough danger you activated the summoning seal I bestowed upon you.” He indicated the now fading mark on her arm.

               “Summoning seal?” Tsuki looked up at him curiously.

               “So, I can summon you to me and vice versa.” His piercing eyes narrowed into a glare, “That means that useless Orochimaru allowed you to fall into such a state. He’ll pay for endangering my servan-.”

               “Ah, Manda-sama, it’s not Orochimaru-sama’s fault. Please don’t be angry with him.” Tsuki panted. Her injuries were starting to catch up with her. She’d been trying to hard to be strong to keep herself collected in the event she needed to fight, but now she was safe. Manda would watch over her.

               “Hm. Only because you asked me, will I spare him.” The colossal serpent growled.

               “Th-Thank you for s-saving me, Manda-sama.” Tsuki felt the edges of her vision beginning to blur.

              


	12. Chapter 12

Kabuto was starting to worry for his safety. Even in his weakened state after his fight with The Third Hokage, Lord Orochimaru was deadly. Upon discovering the nuisance of a girl that had taken residence in his room over the past few years was missing, he became inconsolably enraged. He was already irritable because of the immense amount of pain he was in from the injuries he’d sustained during his fight. He’d lashed out and killed over a dozen attendants Kabuto had helping to take care of him and administer the medicine he had prepared to ease his pain. He was running out of pawns to help him tend to the lethal legendary sannin.

               He hadn’t expected Lord Orochimaru to be so upset by the girl’s disappearance and was worried about what he’d do if he found out how she disappeared. Kabuto knew the girl had no knowledge of their plans or research and that Orochimaru had successfully made her forget the location of the lair, there wasn’t anything of value she could tell anyone if she was interrogated, and he’d hoped once they discovered she knew nothing, they’d dispose of her for him.

               It had been nearly two weeks after the attack, Kabuto and Orochimaru had met with another of the legendary sannin, Lady Tsunade a week ago to make a deal. Kabuto hoped once his wounds healed, Lord Orochimaru would be less irritable and stop fixating on the missing girl.  After the fight with The Third Hokage, Lord Orochimaru’s arms appeared to be dead, they were turning necrotic and caused him a great deal of pain, if they couldn’t heal him soon, he’d have to transfer bodies or there was a chance he could die. Despite his own dire situation, Lord Orochimaru had ordered Kabuto to find and rescue the nuisance of a girl. He knew she was in danger and was in too weakened of a state to save her.        

               Rather than agree to the deal they proposed and heal Lord Orochimaru, Lady Tsunade refused and a fight broke out. Before long they were joined by the third legendary sannin, Master Jiraiya, an annoying brat by the name of Naruto and Lady Tsunade’s attendant, Shizune.  Kabuto grew wary, he knew Jiraiya had been in the Hidden Leaf Village during the attack, if Tsuki was captured he probably knew about it. If he said anything about it to Lord Orochimaru, he would surely realize Kabuto was the one behind her disappearance.

               Kabuto helped Lord Orochimaru summon Manda, as the other two sannin summoned their familiars. The colossal ill-tempered serpent appeared in a puff of smoke just as Master Jiraiya summoned a giant toad and Lady Tsunade summoned a massive slug.

               The colossal serpent’s voice roared through the partially destroyed plains causing the earth to shake, “Orochimaru, I don’t appreciate being dragged here. You know I don’t like being summoned, I should eat you here and now to put an end to it, but my cute servant you can’t seem to take care of begged me not to.” His voice sounded slightly off as if he were holding something in his mouth.

               What was he talking about? Kabuto and Orochimaru both looked down at the giant serpent beneath their feet curiously.

               “Please don’t talk like that, Lord Manda, you will be heavily rewarded for your hel-.” Kabuto tried to quell the serpents anger.

               “Shut up you little bug, what could you possibly offer me to make it worth my while?” Manda roared causing Kabuto to flinch. The serpents tongue flicked upward, it was coiled around something and slowly unraveled dropping an unconscious Tsuki above them.

               “Tsuki!” Orochimaru struggled to catch her in his arms, despite the pain. He dropped to his knees shielding her from the sunlight as he shook her lightly. “Tsuki, wake up.”

               Kabuto felt his heart pounding in his chest, this was not good. His gaze swept over the unconscious girl, she was in bad shape, her entire body was covered in bloody raw red burns, there was a deep stab wound in her shoulder and her arms appeared to be burned so severely they were a deep unhealthy purple.

               “I refuse to assist you until you tell me how it came to be that my cute servant ended up in such a state, Orochimaru.” The serpent hissed in rage.

               Kabuto struggled to keep his cool. He stared down at the unconscious girl in Orochimaru’s arms in awe as the burns all over her body slowly began to fade away. This was not good. She’d wake up, did she know it was him? He thought he was sure to catch her in a semi drugged state before dosing her. She shouldn’t remember, but she was full of surprises.

               “Orochimaru-sama.” Tsuki’s voice sounded weak as her eyes slowly fluttered open, she winced at the bright sunlight, but managed to keep her eyes open. The sun didn’t seem to bother her so much when she was in Lord Orochimaru’s arms. “Sorry I wasn’t there to heal you.” She reached a pale hand upward cupping his cheek as a single tear slipped from her colorless eyes.

               Kabuto stared at the pair in awe. At her touch, Orochimaru appeared to grow stronger, his pain was ebbing away. His arm still appeared to be necrotic and black. Tsuki frowned, as she sensed that Orochimaru’s wounds weren’t healing completely, she’d only succeeded in easing the pain.

               “That’s enough, Tsuki.” Orochimaru’s voice was soft as he looked down at her before turning to Kabuto, “Get her out of the sunlight and protect her with your life.” His voice came out in a sharp venomous hiss.

               “Manda-sama.” Tsuki called softly, “You promised you wouldn’t be angry and would help Orochimaru-sama.”

               The colossal serpent didn’t seem pleased with this, but reluctantly caved, “So I did.” Manda sighed.

               Orochimaru was able to move his arms with minimal discomfort, it was no longer pure agony. He handed the starlight girl off to Kabuto with a look of warning that was so terrifying, it made the younger male’s skin crawl.

               “I’ll keep her safe.” Kabuto vowed before taking off to find a patch of shade away from the fighting. The girl was lighter than he had remembered, she’d lost weight due to the comatose state her injuries left her in.

               Once they were safely in the shade of a cluster of boulders away from the fighting, Kabuto released the girl from his hold and turned to watch the fight. A small hand lashed out lightning fast catching him by the throat and slammed his back into one of the boulders they were currently seeking shade from. He gasped as all the wind was knocked from his lungs. The small hand tightened around his throat making it impossible for him to draw breath. His dark onyx eyes flit to the frail looking starlight girl in terror, she was strong!

               “If you ever put Orochimaru-sama’s life in danger again, I will end you.” Tsuki hissed, he’d finally pushed her too far. He threw her into enemy territory to be captured when Orochimaru needed her the most, it could have cost him his life.

               Kabuto uselessly smacked at her tiny wrist in a futile attempt to get her to release him as he struggled for air.

               “You will be civil to me from now on and you will stop trying to separate me from Orochimaru-sama. Understood?” Her grip tightened.

               Kabuto managed a nod as the edges of his vision began to blur. Her small hand released him and he collapsed to his knees coughing and sputtering as he tried desperately to replenish his lungs with sweet oxygen. He looked to the starlight girl warily as she gracefully folded her tattered lilac dress beneath her as she sat down beside him.

               “In exchange, I’ll spare your life by not telling Orochimaru-sama that you drugged me and left me for dead in enemy territory.” She smiled sweetly, he’d finally pushed her too far.

               Kabuto managed to regulate his breathing and shot a wary look in the pale girl’s direction as he realized the fatal flaw in all of his scheming to get rid of her. He’d pushed her past her breaking point and rather than cripple her as he had expected, it gave her the drive and fire she needed to be a deadly foe. She was no longer the weak terrified girl that would cower whenever he lashed out at her. Tsuki had finally snapped, she was done being the victim.

               “How did you get Manda to obey you?” Kabuto asked her after a long moment keeping his tone even and light.

               Tsuki shrugged, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

               Kabuto frowned, “That’s not it, I’m always polite to him-.”

               Tsuki turned to him with a sweet smile that instantly made his heart flutter in his chest and made him forget what he’d been about to say. There was an allure about her that drew him in, it had always been there but he’d tried so hard to fight it and always ended up lashing out at her in the past. Was Manda also susceptible to her allure? Is that why Lord Orochimaru kept her around? Or was he too under her spell?

               “There’s a difference between politeness and kindness.” Tsuki said softly as the fight began. Her colorless eyes were filled with worry. Orochimaru still wasn’t at his best, he was still injured. Her touch should have healed him more. If it was too severe a wound, it would require more contact to heal. Her cheeks flushed with color at this thought.

               “Do you know medical ninjutsu?” Kabuto inquired, now curious about the girl as he was forced to watch over her.

               Tsuki shook her head.

               “You said something about healing Lord Orochimaru.” Kabuto frowned.

               “I CAN heal him.”

               “How?!” Kabuto snapped.

               “It doesn’t concern you.” Tsuki said coolly.

               Kabuto was taken aback by her new cool attitude but didn’t press her further. She was stronger than she looked, she’d been trained personally by Lord Orochimaru and she somehow managed to escape captivity in The Hidden Leaf Village. He couldn’t afford to underestimate her again.

              


	13. Chapter 13

It had been a few days since they’d returned to the underground lair. When they’d first returned Tsuki had hugged Lord Orochimaru and refused to let go of him for over an hour, she managed to alleviate his pain, but his arms still appeared dead, necrotic and bloody. Frustrated, Tsuki tried willing her chakra into him, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t heal his wounds.

               Kabuto, true to his word, was being nicer to her and treating her with respect. He no longer lashed out at her or gave her mean looks and seemed like he was being genuinely kind to her. Tsuki was starting to worry, though Orochimaru said her touch alleviated a great deal of pain and made him mobile again, it wasn’t enough. If she couldn’t figure out how to heal him, the necrosis in his arms could spread and kill him. It was getting worse; her touch wasn’t alleviating as much pain as it had before.

               Orochimaru had retreated to his lab, tired of her constant hugs and seeing the look of worry on her face. He often retreated to the lab, knowing each time she tried to give him her chakra it drained her. She was trying too hard and it was going to make her sick.

               Tsuki sat on the edge of Orochimaru’s bed with her head in her hands as frustration and anger welled up inside of her. Why wasn’t it working? Why couldn’t she heal him? She jumped at the soft rap at the door and slowly lifted her head turning her colorless eyes to the door as it swung open. Instinctively she tensed as Kabuto ducked inside. He noticed the sudden tension in her body and frowned slightly before recovering with a polite smile.

               “His condition is worsening.” Kabuto said calmly, “Whatever you’re doing is effective at lessening the pain, but it’s not fixing the root of the matter. Are you sure you can heal him?”

               Tsuki bit her lip, “I know I can, I just don’t know how to do it.”

               Kabuto frowned, “How can you be sure?”

               “My clan can heal others…”

               “Through touch, right?” Kabuto asked curiously as he stepped further into the room before taking a seat next to her on the edge of the bed.  “You’ve just been doing it unconsciously before now, you don’t necessarily understand the mechanics of it. Is that right?”

               Tsuki nodded.

               “You’ve been acting on instinct until now, perhaps you’re just overthinking it and should just do what your body tells you to do.” He noted.

               Tsuki pondered this for a moment. He wasn’t wrong. She was getting in her head a lot because she was scared. Maybe she was overthinking it, but what was her body telling her to do?

               Kabuto lightly pat the worried girl atop the head and ruffled her silvery white hair, “You’re doing it again.”

               “I’m scared.” Tsuki admitted helplessly.

               “Don’t worry. We have a plan, we’re just under some time constraints and need to hold out a few days longer. If you can keep alleviating his pain and slowing the spread of the necrosis like you have been, then it should be fine.” He tried to reassure her.

               Tsuki bit her lip, her stomach churned unpleasantly, Orochimaru was in pain again, but if she went to him he’d just push her away and tell her to go back to his private quarters and stay put. It was the same thing that had happened for the past three days. “I don’t think I’m helping much anymore.”

               Kabuto kept his mouth shut, he’d noticed that whatever she’d been doing that had been slowing the spread of the necrosis and alleviating Lord Orochimaru’s pain, wasn’t as effective. It was most likely due to the progression of the necrosis and that whatever treatment she was administering, the dosage was too low, but if he told her this, she’d only worry. Her healing abilities were almost entirely based on instinct, she did it unconsciously and she’d just beat herself up over it.

               “I think it would be best if you stayed here for today. Try not to overthink it.” He noted before getting to his feet, “Don’t worry so much.” He offered her a small smile before slipping out of the room leaving her alone with her thoughts of self-loathing.

               Tsuki flopped onto the bed as tears of frustration welled in her colorless eyes. She could sense his pain growing, it made her arms itch from her fingertips stretching past her shoulders almost reaching her chest. If it continued to spread, if it reached his heart, he’d die. After hours of self-inflicted torment, she dragged herself from the bed and trudged to the connected bathroom for what she hoped would be a relaxing bubble bath.

               She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror of the dimly lit bathroom and paused. It had been a long time since she’d last been able to look at her own reflection. She always felt filthy and impure, after what had happened with the guard. The girl staring back at her in the mirror looked foreign and strange, no longer a girl, but a young woman with curves. There was sorrow and frustration revealed in her colorless eyes, but deeper down there was strength. Her mind wandered back to her life of captivity, to what the guard had done and her stomach churned unpleasantly as she realized what she’d have to do in order to heal Orochimaru.

               After emptying the contents of her stomach in terror and gut-wrenching anxiety about what she’d have to do, she brushed her teeth a few times and soaked her body in the marble tub. The bathroom was huge and littered with snake accents, the sconces along the walls were cobra heads, there were ornate decorative snakes carved into the side of the tub and marble countertops.

               When she sensed Orochimaru leave the lab she got out of the tub, dried herself off and wrapped her naked body in a silk robe with trembling hands. Her nerves were on edge, her stomach was twisting in knots, and her body was trembling uncontrollably as her mind kept lingering back to what had happened with the guard. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists at her side trying to will herself to calm down. This was different, this was her choice, to help Orochimaru who’d saved her countless times. It was the least she could do.

               The bedroom door opened and she took a deep breath before reaching for the bathroom door with a trembling hand. She bit her lip and tried to steady her nerves as she slowly opened the door. Orochimaru was standing at his desk, bent over slightly wincing in pain. He straightened up and turned as he sensed her presence, his snake like eyes swept over her causing her heart to skip a beat in her chest.

               “Tsuki, what’s wrong?” He asked her through grit teeth, he was trying so hard to bear with the pain. It was getting worse, he wasn’t going to last much longer.

               Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was sure he could hear it from across the room as she slowly moved toward him trying to keep her body from trembling. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering as she felt his gaze on her, he was watching her intently trying to discern what was wrong with her. “I know what I have to do.” Her voice shook.

               Orochimaru threw her a curious look, “What?”

               “To heal you. I know how, now.” Tsuki breathed as she reached him and paused before him as her insides attempted flips making her feel more uneasy than before.

               Orochimaru frowned, she was acting odd and she looked terrified, whatever it was, it scared her, “How?”

               Tsuki reached for the rope cinched around her waist, keeping the robe in place, with trembling fingers. She took a deep breath, steeled herself and the robe cascaded to the floor at her feet. Her body moved on autopilot as she cleared the space between them and made a move to wrap her arms around his neck only to cut off with a gasp as he roughly caught her by the shoulders and held her at an arm’s length away.

               His snake like eyes narrowed. “Tsuki.” He hissed, “What are you doing?”

               “It’ll work. I know it will.” Tears welled in her colorless eyes.

               “No.” He glared down at her, “Stop this nonsense, Tsuki.” He snapped as he shoved her away from him with enough force she stumbled backward and slipped to her knees.

               “Orochimaru-sama, please. I know it will work.” Fear gripped her as she thought of what was to come.

               “KABUTO!” Orochimaru snarled causing the terrified girl to jump. What did he want with Kabuto at a time like this?

               After a moment the bedroom door swung open and Kabuto stepped in with a bow, “Yes, Lord Orochimaru?” He straightened himself up only to stare in awe at the scene before him as his cheeks flushed crimson at the sight of the naked young woman. “What’s going o-?”

               “Take Tsuki to her room.” Orochimaru ordered coolly. “She’s to stay there until further notice.”

               Tsuki felt her heart drop. “What?”

               Kabuto paused, “You want me to lock her in her room?”

               “Now.” Orochimaru hissed as the pain in his arms began to grow.

               “No!” Tsuki protested as a single desolate tear slipped from her hold. “Don’t send me away.” Her eyes were filled with desolation and despair, “I’m sorry.” She folded into herself.

               Kabuto stepped forward not entirely sure what had transpired or why the girl was naked and Orochimaru slightly flushed. He bent down and swept up Tsuki’s discarded robe before lightly draping it over her delicate shoulders and giving her a moment to cover herself. Her body was trembling as Kabuto lightly caught her by the arm and gently pulled her to her feet. There was slight resistance as he tried to pull her toward the door, she looked like she was about to crumble.

               With a sigh, Kabuto swept her into his arms and left the room in silence. Once they were far enough away he was sure Orochimaru couldn’t hear them he looked down at the broken girl, “What happened?”

               “I figured out how to heal him.” Tsuki sniffled.

               “How?...Oh!.” Kabuto’s face burned as he realized what had transpired. The girl had apparently offered her body to him and Lord Orochimaru rejected her, rather aggressively. When he’d first brought Tsuki to their hidden lair, she’d suffered a sexual assault, a guard that had been tasked with watching over her as a prisoner had bound and raped her. Kabuto had never seen Lord Orochimaru express anger on that level, for days after bringing the girl back he was much quicker to anger and exploded at the smallest of things.

               “I don’t want to be alone again.” Tsuki whimpered as they reached the room she’d been given when she first arrived at the lair.

               Kabuto felt sorry for the girl. Even if Lord Orochimaru was just looking out for her well-being, he should have handled the situation a little more delicately. His steel gaze scanned the room as he pushed open the door to her cell, he shook his head as he spotted a white snake curled atop the bed. Apparently, Lord Orochimaru didn’t want the girl to be alone either. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.” He shook the slightly comatose girl lightly in his arms and directed her gaze to the white snake.

               “Yuki-san!” Tsuki cried as she wriggled out of Kabuto’s hold and ran to the pure white snake with the bright green eyes.

               Kabuto watched in awe as the pure white snake coiled around the starlight girl’s hand and wound around her arm up to her neck before nuzzling her affectionately as if to console her. “Goodnight, Tsuki.”

               Those colorless eyes turned to him looking hollow and lost, “Goodnight.” She replied desolately as he offered her a polite bow of his head before closing the door and locking her inside.

              

 


	14. Chapter 14

Two days had gone by, since Tsuki had been confined to her room. Yuki stayed with her to keep her company and Kabuto brought her meals and was kind enough to offer her sedatives, though she refused them. Orochimaru’s pain had become unbearable, so much so that she eventually lost consciousness from the residual effects of their link unable to endure the pain herself.

               Tsuki woke with a start as the door of her cell opened. The pain had subsided, her arms no longer itched from the residual pain through her link to Orochimaru. He’d found some way to heal himself, though she had no idea how. Groggily she lifted her head as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She’d collapsed on the floor from the pain with Yuki curled up in the crook of her neck.

               Strong arms encircled her, sweeping her off the floor and cradling her in a tender embrace. She gasped as she glanced upward and met a pair of lethal reptilian golden green eyes. “O-Orochimaru-sama?”

               “Troublesome child.” He sighed, but there was the faintest hint of a smile in his snake like eyes.

               “Are you okay?” She asked worried as she attempted to struggle out of his hold to support herself, but she met resistance and stayed put.

               “I put you through quite the ordeal…” He noted somewhat remorsefully as his gaze fell to the dark circles beneath her colorless eyes and the sickly pallor to her skin. It was his way of apologizing.

               “I-I’m okay.” Tsuki stuttered and bit her lip as she thought back on the night she’d offered herself to him, to heal him, it would have worked, he wouldn’t have had to endure such pain. “I-it would have worked… why didn’t you-?” She cut off with a squeak as his piercing gaze met her colorless eyes, he looked livid.

               His gaze softened after a moment as they made it to his private quarters, “I know it would have…” He admitted.

               “So why didn’t you-?” Her cheeks burned too embarrassed to finish her sentence.

               “You were terrified.”

               Tsuki felt her heart skip a beat in her chest, “W-what?”

               “You looked scared.” Orochimaru shrugged as he stepped into the bathroom.

               Tsuki felt her breath hitch in her throat, the bathroom was aglow with candles. The oversized tub was filled with steaming water and littered with suds and bubbles that threatened to spill over the sides. What was going on?

               “Orochimaru-sama?” Tsuki squeaked as he gently set her on her feet.

               His hand clapped down atop her head affectionately, “Relax and stay put for today.” He was just changing the size and location of her cell, she was still imprisoned. A song bird in an illustrious cage of luxury was still a prisoner.

               Tsuki bit her lip as she stared down at the crescent shaped mark seared into her palm. She had no right to complain, for she too had imprisoned him. “I understand.”

               His snakelike eyes looked down at her as she suddenly turned morose. “If you behave, we can go outside tonight.”

               Her colorless eyes flit upward meeting his gaze and he felt a strange fluttering sensation at the desolate look revealed within. She looked defeated. Rejection, loneliness and hopelessness all swirled together in her colorless eyes, if he hadn’t spent the last few years studying her, he’d never have noticed. His promises of temporary freedom, were losing their effect. He’d caged her for too long.

               “Tsuki?”

               Those bleak colorless eyes held his gaze, unflinching and devoid of any of her usual light. He’d always marveled at how she’d been through so much yet remained unwavering and strong, but his rejection, his refusal to use her for his own means had broken her. Orochimaru stared down at the hollow shell of the girl who’d been his faithful and bright companion over the years.

               He reached out and tenderly stroked her cheek as if to wipe away the tears she had yet to shed before lightly trailing his fingers down to her chin tilting her head upward. “Do you wish to leave?”

               There was a faint spark of life revealed in her colorless eyes before it was replaced with fear and abandonment, “Are you going to send me away again?” Her voice trembled.

               Orochimaru felt strange, like something was tugging at his chest, his stomach clenched uncomfortably at the look of terror reflected in the girl’s eyes, “No. I was asking if you wished to be free…”

               Tsuki didn’t hesitate. She shook her head furiously before stepping forward, throwing her arms around him with a strangled cry.

               That wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. With a sigh he lightly pat her on the head. She fit perfectly in his arms. He’d missed the girl’s company and regretted locking her away, but it had been for the best, he couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t have tried anything and in his weakened state of body and mind he wasn’t sure he’d be able to refuse her.

               “You don’t have to stay put.” He sighed in defeat, “But if you do venture from this room, make sure Yuki is with you and be careful.”

               Tsuki smiled, but her smile fell when she noticed the look of concern reflected in his reptilian gaze, “Is something going on?”

               Orochimaru lightly smoothed his fingers through her silken moonbeam hair, “Nothing for you to worry about.”

               Tsuki nodded her understanding. “Thank you, Orochimaru-sama.” She smiled.

               He felt something stir within him as she spoke his name and flashed him a radiant smile. She was constantly stirring him up, making him feel and think things he’d never thought possible. After disentangling himself from her, he left without a word.

               Tsuki watched him go feeling somewhat relieved that he’d reluctantly given her permission to wander and wasn’t sending her away. Yuki slithered into the bathroom once Orochimaru took his leave and curled up next to the tub. After a nice relaxing bath, Tsuki changed into a plain pair of grey tights and a simple black dress before bending down to scoop Yuki up. She giggled as the pale white snake coiled up her arm and rested across her shoulders.

               They made it to the kitchen without running across anything out of the ordinary and Tsuki nibbled on some fruit to appease her growling stomach before heading off to explore. As Tsuki wandered through the many twists and turns of the labyrinth, she thought she heard sounds in the distance, like some of the many traps that had been set for intruders were going off.  The lair rarely got intruders, usually one look inside the entrance and people turned back once they realized it was a maze almost entirely in darkness.

               “NARUTO!” A girl’s voice cried in panic not too far from them, she sounded young and like she was in trouble.

               Tsuki looked to her reptilian companion. Yuki’s bright green eyes met her gaze and nodded his consent upon realizing the girl wanted to try to help. She ran through the labyrinth in the direction she heard the girl’s voice careful not to trigger any of the traps along the way.

               As she rounded a corner she paused as she spotted a girl who appeared to be no more than thirteen years of age with shoulder length pink hair slumped against the wall with tears in her eyes looking defeated and scared. Tsuki approached the girl slowly.

               “Are you alright?” Tsuki asked softly.

               The girl jumped and turned her tear filled pale jade eyes in the direction the voice had come only to gasp in awe as she saw a pair of glowing silver eyes floating in the darkness. She hurriedly retrieved a light source from her pack and held it up to see what was approaching.

               Tsuki winced at the sudden harsh light and held her hands up to shield herself from the blinding light.

               “W-who are you?!” The frightened girl demanded trying to keep her voice steady.

               “Would you mind lowering that a little, I’m very sensitive to light.” Tsuki squeaked.

               The intruder reluctantly lowered her torch, so it was no longer in Tsuki’s eyes. “Who are you?” She demanded again, her voice gaining strength and confidence.

               “My name is Tsuki.” Tsuki smiled, “What’s your name?”

               The girl seemed taken aback by her politeness, but didn’t let her guard down, “Sakura.” She tightened her grip on her torch and reached for the pack at her hip for a weapon.

               “I can show you the way to the exit.” Tsuki offered in an attempt to get the younger girl to relax.

               “I can’t go back yet.” Sakura declared retrieving a kunai from her pouch, “I have to find Sasuke.”

               Tsuki frowned, “Did he get lost too?”

               “What?! No! Orochimaru took him.” Sakura looked to the strange young woman curiously, “Are you one of his henchmen?”

               Tsuki shrugged at this, “I don’t think so.”

               Sakura relaxed slightly, the young woman didn’t appear threatening, her skin was pale, there were dark circles beneath her now colorless eyes. If she hadn’t seen the glow of her silver irises in the dark moments before she’d have thought the woman was blind. “Why are you here?” She asked warily.

               “I live here.”

               “Do you know Orochimaru?”

               “Yes.”

               Sakura tensed again, “Are you friend or foe?”

               “You’ve done nothing against me, I see no reason for us to be foes.” Tsuki smiled and extended her hand to the girl, “Let’s be friends instead, Sakura-chan.”

               Sakura smiled and accepted her hand, “I’d like that.” She straightened herself up and prepared to take a step.

               “AH! Not there!” Tsuki yelped but cringed as Sakura stepped on the trap tile. It was going to release bamboo spears from the walls and ceiling. She hurriedly caught the younger girl by the wrist and pulled her against her before a swirling vortex of wind swirled around them with a loud shriek propelling the bamboo spears away from them. “You okay, Sakura-chan?” She asked once her wind died down.

               Sakura took a shaky step away from the young woman, who moments ago she had written off as weak and not a threat. “Yeah. Thanks, Tsuki.”

               “Since you don’t want to go to the exit, where would you like to go? I know my way around pretty well.”

               “I need to find Sasuke. Do you know where he is?”

               Tsuki frowned, “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t heard anything and you’re the only person I’ve run into in the tunnels. If you think Orochimaru-sama took him, we could ask him if he knows-.”

               Sakura blanched as if remembering something terrifying, “I’d like to avoid him if possible.”

               Tsuki noticed the forehead protector poking out of her pink hair, she was from the village Orochimaru had attacked, of course she’d be apprehensive. “Well, how about we look for him together.” She offered with a smile.

               “That’s a great id-…” Sakura cut off with a groan, “I should find Naruto and that pervy old man first. We all got separated.” She looked like that was the last thing she wanted to do, she was desperate to find Sasuke. Tsuki could see it in the younger girl’s eyes, she loved him.

               “I could find your friends for you, while you look.” Tsuki offered, “You could take Yuki with you, he can show you where to step safely so you don’t get caught in a trap.” She indicated the pale white snake sitting atop her shoulders.

               Sakura considered the offer for a moment, “You’d do that, for me?”

               Tsuki grinned, “Sure, that’s what friends are for, right?”

               Sakura hugged the starlight woman, “Thanks, Tsuki. You’re a great friend.”

               “Yuki, go with Sakura-chan and show her where it’s safe to walk, please.” Tsuki lightly pat the pure white snake atop his head. Yuki nuzzled her affectionately before reluctantly slithering to the ground to help guide the young kunoichi.

               “Naruto fell in a trap a little ways back, and Master Jiraiya took a different fork when we arrived.” Sakura informed her.

               “I’ll find them and we’ll meet up with you. I can sense Yuki so I’ll be able to find you.” Tsuki smiled before slipping away in the darkness to find Sakura’s companions feeling giddy. It was the first time anyone had called her a friend.

               After a few twists and turns she heard the sound of rushing water beneath her and the sound of a boy yelling. She stomped her foot down quickly and leapt back to activate a trap door before reaching into the rushing water. From the sound of his scream, he’d be in view any second now.

               A boy with bright blonde hair, wearing an orange jacket slipped into view, struggling against the water’s current. Tsuki managed to catch hold of his hand and struggled to pull him to the ledge. After a few minutes of struggling, she managed to pull him to safety and the two fell atop the cold hard stone floor gasping for breath.

               “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.” The boy gasped.

               “Gee, thanks doll, we were in a real pinch.” An orange frog wearing a blue vest sitting atop the blonde’s chest saluted her.

               Was it normal for frogs to talk? She’d not come across many frogs in her life. Manda could talk, so why couldn’t a little frog? “Sure thing.” Tsuki smiled between gasps of breath, “Are you Naruto, by chance?” She turned to the boy, he appeared to be around Sakura’s age, at least seven years her junior.

               “Yeah, how’d you know?” The blonde asked in awe as he sat up, apparently already recovered from his ordeal.

               “I’m Tsuki. Sakura-chan sent me to find you.” Tsuki noted.

               “You saw Sakura-chan?! Is she okay?”

               Tsuki nodded, “Yuki is with her, so she won’t fall into any traps.”

               “Which way did they go?!” The boy asked abruptly.

               Tsuki pointed, “That way, but we need to fin-.” She cut off as the exuberant youth took off running in the direction she had pointed, “Wait! What about the traps?!”

Naruto was already gone.

Tsuki sighed and muttered to herself, “I hope he’ll be okay.” She picked herself up off the ground and dusted herself off before heading on her way.

Now all she had to do was find the one Sakura called a pervy old man, Master Jiraiya. Was it the same one from the time she’d been captured by the hidden leaf village? Tsuki continued on her way, it was lonely wandering the tunnels without Yuki at her side. A grim thought crossed her mind, Orochimaru told her to keep Yuki with her if she left the room, would he be angry that she disobeyed him. It was to help a friend, and Tsuki knew her way through the labyrinth.

After a while she found a room tucked into the labyrinth, it looked like a traditional Japanese room for tea ceremonies, but it appeared to have gone under attack, walls had been torn down, all the furniture inside was broken and strewn about at random. There must have been some kind of struggle. Her glowing eyes pierced through the darkness and she spotted two people lying unconscious in the debris strewn room.

Her glowing silver eyes fell on the one closest to her, it was a man with unruly white hair, with red markings on his cheeks. He was wearing a familiar sage like outfit in a dusty hunter green with a deep crimson haori. It was the same man from the Hidden Leaf Village, and the same man who’d fought with Orochimaru, the one who commanded the giant toad. Tsuki hesitantly knelt next to him and lightly shook his soldier.

“Excuse me, are you alright?” She asked softly and nearly screamed when his eyes flashed open.

His dark eyes latched onto her and widened a fraction before a goofy grin plastered his face, “Is this heaven? There’s a pretty girl here.” He grinned.

“Master Jiraiya?” She asked curiously.

“Oh, and she knows my name.” His grin grew.

“Sakura-chan sent me to find you. Are you alright?” Tsuki ignored his strange behavior as she got to her feet before extending her hand to help him to his feet.

His gaze fell on the mark seared into her palm before accepting her hand and getting to his feet. He dusted himself off and offered her a smile, “Tsuki-chan, right?”

So, he remembered her. She nodded.

“You gave us all quite a scare when you disappeared. Though you seem to be in much better health.” When he’d seen her last, her entire body had been covered in burns from the sun.

“Inoichi-san wasn’t hurt, was he?” Tsuki asked feeling guilty, she had hoped she hadn’t hurt him when she’d broken his jutsu and expelled him from her mind, but she couldn’t relive that awful memory again.

Jiraiya smiled as he crossed the room to where his opponent, a young woman around Tsuki’s age with dark hair, was lying unconscious. He hefted the unconscious girl over his shoulder before turning to Tsuki with a smile. “He’s fine, he was more worried about you.”

Tsuki sighed in relief, “I’m glad he’s okay. He was nice.” She smiled, “We should meet up with Sakura-chan and Naruto.” Hopefully Naruto had made it to where Sakura was and hadn’t fallen in another trap.

Jiraiya summoned a giant frog to carry them on their way. Tsuki pointed him in the direction she sensed Yuki and cringed as the giant frog began breaking through walls, creating its own path. If they weren’t careful they’d collapse part of the underground labyrinth.

In a matter of minutes, they’d destroyed a good portion of the tunnels and burst into a giant hall with rows and rows of decorative columns, though it appeared there had been a great deal of destruction already as pillars were collapsing and there was smoke and dust everywhere. What had happened?

Tsuki spotted a massive piece of the collapsing structure falling toward Naruto and Sakura and hurriedly channeled her chakra into blades of wind. With a wave of her hand the blades of wind diced the rubble to dust. Sakura and Naruto turned to see the giant frog with Tsuki and Jiraiya standing atop it’s head.

“Pervy sage!” Naruto cheered.

“Tsuki!” Sakura looked relieved.

“Sorry to be late.” Jiraiya smiled, “I ran into a number of obstacles on my end too, luckily Tsuki-chan helped me out.” He continued, “Now then, climb up, you two. Let’s hurry and get back above ground.”

Tsuki was about to move away when she spotted a young man close to her in age with silver hair holding an unconscious girl about Sakura and Naruto’s age in his arms. The man tossed the unconscious girl to Master Jiraiya before collapsing.

“Sasame!” Naruto and Sakura panicked.

“She’s fine, she’s just fainted.” Jiraiya reassured the pair of them.

Naruto and Sakura appeared to be in rough shape. Tsuki turned to the pair of them channeling her chakra into the palms of her hands before placing a hand to each of their foreheads. A healing blue glow encased the pair of them and in seconds their chakra was replenished, their wounds were healed and their energy was restored.

“Tsuki, that’s amazing, I didn’t know you were a medical ninja.” Sakura stared in awe.

Tsuki shook her head, “I’m not. It’s part of my Clan’s kekkei genkai.”

Jiraiya looked thoughtful at this. “Naruto, you and Sakura make sure Sasame and this young lady get back to the Fuma Clan.” He indicated the unconscious young woman laying at his feet, “I’m going to stay behind with Tsuki-chan for a bit.”

“What, we can’t leave yet. Sasuke is alive and he’s here, Sasame’s cousin confirmed it.” Sakura looked on the verge of tears.

Jiraiya shook his head, there was no doubt Orochimaru wasn’t aware that there were intruders after all the ruckus, and if his suspicions about Tsuki were correct, he didn’t want Naruto and especially Sakura to be around for what he’d have to do. Once before, he’d let Orochimaru go, and he regretted it, he swore to himself if he had the chance again, he’d kill him. Now, he had his chance. “We’ll look for him. Get them to safety.” He said a little more sternly.

“I told Yuki to get somewhere safe before all the fighting happened.” Sakura noted before waving farewell to her new friend as Tsuki and Jiraiya leapt to the floor in the crumbling room.

“Thank you, Sakura-chan.” Tsuki smiled and waved back before the giant frog soared through a gaping hole in the ceiling getting them all safely out of the lair. She turned to one of the doors lining the walls as the dust began to settle. She sensed a familiar presence drawing near at a fast pace. Her heart stuttered in her chest, he was going to be angry. As she was about to take a step toward the door, a hand caught her wrist, halting her. Tsuki looked to Jiraiya curiously, “What are you doing?”

“I might need some leverage.” He offered her a smile he’d hoped was reassuring as he felt a swell of conflict building within him. Tsuki wasn’t really involved in Orochimaru’s plans, she was more a prisoner than anything else.

Tsuki frowned slightly, that was only going to make Orochimaru angrier. He’d surely punish her. The door she’d sensed his presence from, nearly flew off its hinges, causing Tsuki to jump. His lethal golden green reptilian eyes latched onto her in an instant, freezing her in place. He was pissed! His gaze flicked to the man at her side, holding onto her delicate wrist.

“Tsuki. Come.” Orochimaru’s voice came out in a growl.

Tsuki blanched at this and attempted to move toward him, but Jiraiya’s grip around her wrist tightened. She let out a gasp as he pulled her back to him and gripped her neck with his other hand keeping her pinned against him.

Orochimaru’s glare intensified.

Jiraiya held her wrist up flashing the crescent moon brand seared into the palm of her hand in Orochimaru’s direction. “I had my suspicions of the girl when she was under interrogation before.” He paused for the briefest of moments as a flutter of fear came over him, Orochimaru looked livid. Jiraiya continued, “I’d wager to guess, you have a similar mark, old friend.”

“You think you can kill the girl, to get rid of me?” Orochimaru hissed, “She’s an innocent in all of this you know. Could you stomach it?”

Jiraiya felt the conflict in him grow, he didn’t want to take the life of an innocent, especially such a cute girl. This was quite possibly the only chance he was ever going to get, to get rid of Orochimaru once and for all. In his moment of self-reflection, Orochimaru lashed out with his hidden shadow snakes. Dozens of dark snakes shot forth in an attempt to retrieve the girl, but Jiraiya recovered quick and leapt out of their reach with his hostage. He tightened his grip on the girl’s throat and watched as Orochimaru grimaced. So, their link was strong enough, he could feel her pain.

Tsuki attempted to struggle to break from his hold only to wince as his grip tightened, cutting off her oxygen supply completely. Hot tears of frustration welled in her eyes as she saw Orochimaru grimace. It was her fault! She was too weak and he was getting hurt because of it.

”TSUKI!” Orochimaru looked worried, not for his own wellbeing, but for the girl, upon seeing her tears, “RELEASE HER, JIRAIYA!” He snarled.

Jiraiya eased his grip slightly, he’d never seen his old friend act like this. Was it possible? Was Orochimaru capable of love?

“S-stop hurting Orochimaru-sama.” Tsuki sniffled once she was able to regulate her breathing.

Guilt turned Jiraiya’s stomach as he looked down at the crying girl. He didn’t want to hurt the girl, she was innocent in all of this. “Return Sasuke, and I’ll let her go.”

Orochimaru glared once more, “You make it sound as if I abducted him, he came to me, of his own volition. Release her and I may let you leave with your life.” He hissed.

Jiraiya sighed, he had a feeling that was the case. If Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru willingly, they weren’t going to be able to convince him otherwise. “Sorry, Tsuki-chan. I didn’t want to hurt you.” He breathed softly so only the girl could hear before releasing her from his grip and shoving her lightly toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru caught the starlight girl in his arms before she could hit the floor and breathed a sigh of relief as she wound her arms around him, melting into his embrace as silent tears streamed down her pale cheeks. The dark bruising around her neck vanished as he held her against him.

“I’m sorry!” Tsuki choked. “It’s my fault, I didn’t listen to you, I even got separated from Yuki.”

Orochimaru looked down at the sniffling girl with the faintest trace of a smile. He pat her atop the head lightly ruffling her moonbeam hair causing dust to fall around them. “If you still want to go outside tonight, you should probably get cleaned up. Let’s go back.” His strong arms lifted her with ease, sweeping her off her feet like a princess. She was safe, and for some strange reason, that was all he cared about.


	15. Chapter 15

Orochimaru looked out over the reflective surface of the crystal-clear water reflecting the moon and the stars within its cool water. Tsuki was lying atop the water’s surface giggling as koi fish would come up to the surface and tickle her back, legs and arms. He frowned after a moment as he thought back on the day’s events. Normally he’d have been livid to find that someone had disobeyed him, but it was different with her. All he’d cared about, was her safety.

“Lord Orochimaru.” Kabuto quietly appeared at his side and offered a polite bow of his head, “Sasuke has finished with his training and has retired to his room.” He reported before his onyx gaze drifted to the water’s surface as he heard Tsuki’s soft giggling. “What is she doing?”

“Do you think she’s changed?” Orochimaru asked after a moment ignoring the boy’s previous remark.

“Tsuki?”

Orochimaru shot him a glare, “Who else would we be discussing?”

Kabuto bowed his head once more, “Sorry, it’s just that usually when the topic of Tsuki comes up, you tell me it’s not my concern.” He paled as Orochimaru shot him a dark glare.

“She’s not your concern.” He growled.

Kabuto sighed, “I haven’t noticed a change in her.” There was slight hesitation, he was lying, “Perhaps you’re the one who has chan-.” He cut off as he was met with an even more terrifying glare. “As far as the girl is concerned, I mean.” He attempted once more.

Orochimaru pondered this. Had he changed? He treated the girl more gently then before, but he’d told himself it was because it made her more cooperative, though he didn’t really experiment on her much anymore. He only occasionally drew blood samples from her, but he hadn’t tested her regenerative Towa clan abilities in a while. Earlier in the day he’d nearly set her free, because of the desolate hopeless look in her colorless eyes. When that idiot Jiraiya had threatened her, he was worried, not for himself, but for her. He had been angry that Jiraiya had hurt her and that she had been crying. Was it possible she’d changed him? Would it hinder his research?

“You don’t bully her anymore.” Orochimaru noted causing Kabuto to jump. “Why is that?”

Kabuto cleared his throat, “I underestimated her. She’s not as weak and useless as I had originally thought she was.” He averted his gaze. There was more to it than that, something else had happened between the two of them.

“Find out what she’s so happy about.” Orochimaru waved him away dismissively.

Kabuto made his way across the water’s surface with a sigh. Lord Orochimaru was acting strangely. He stopped when he was within arm’s reach of the giggling starlight girl and smiled as he saw a swarm of brightly colored koi fish nipping at her revealed arms and legs.

“You seem to be in a good mood today.”

Tsuki let out an adorable squeak and nearly plummeted beneath the water’s surface having been startled by his sudden appearance. Kabuto hurriedly caught her by the wrist and pulled her up before she could fall into the frigid water.

“Kabuto-san! You scared me.” She cried as she managed to control her chakra flow to float atop the water’s surface once more.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Kabuto smiled as he released her wrist once she was stable. “What are you looking so happy about?”

“Huh? I look happy?” Tsuki asked curiously.

“Well you’ve been out here giggling for quite some time now, so I’d venture to guess you’re happy about something.”

Tsuki smiled, “I made my very first friend today.”

Kabuto shook his head, “That’s it?”

Tsuki frowned, “I thought it was pretty exciting. No one’s ever called me a friend before.”

Kabuto rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe you’re so happy over something so childish.” He jumped as small jolt of lightning shot in his direction. Dodging the small bolt of lightning, he turned to the starlight girl with a glare, “What was that for?!”

“You were being mean again!” Tsuki grumbled as she folded her arms across her chest and shot him what was supposed to be an intimidating glare but came out as a cute pout.

“I just don’t see the big fuss. And it’s not your first friend.” Kabuto pointed causing Tsuki to look to him confused. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Really?”

Kabuto nodded.

Tsuki smiled and threw her arms around him in a hug, “I’ve always wanted us to be friends, Kabuto-san. Since the first day we met.” She giggled.

Kabuto caught her and nearly lost his balance as he was thrown off by her actions. His heart fluttered unsteadily in his chest. She’d always wanted to be his friend? Even after he’d been so cruel to her? He’d endangered her many times. He always bullied her. Why would she ever want to be his friend? The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he suddenly felt as if his life were in danger. He chanced a glance back to the shoreline and felt all the color drain from his face as he was met with a fearsome glare from Orochimaru.

“Ah, Tsuki, let go of me.” Kabuto panicked. He didn’t have a death wish and if the beautiful girl kept hugging him, he was sure Orochimaru would find a way to kill him with looks alone.

Tsuki took a step back with tears brimming in her colorless eyes, “Thanks, Kabuto-san.” She smiled.

Kabuto could still feel Orochimaru glaring at him, “Tell me about the friend you made today.”

Tsuki beamed, “Her name is Sakura, she’s from the Hidden Leaf Village. She was looking for her friend, Sasuke.” She frowned after a moment, “Is he really here?”

“Yes.”

“Orochimaru-sama told Master Jiraiya, he came here by choice, why did they make it seem like it was an abduction?”

Kabuto looked to the shore warily, “They just don’t understand.”

“Kabuto-san?”

He looked to the beautiful starlight girl curiously.

“You and Orochimaru-sama do things that other people think are bad, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Because they don’t understand?”

Kabuto sighed, “I hope you don’t pester Lord Orochimaru with your frivolous questions.” He grimaced as he saw her flinch, “Sorry.” He offered her a strained smile, “Just don’t worry about it.”

Tsuki bowed her head, “I want to be useful, to Orochimaru-sama.”

“Then don’t ask stupid questions and stay out of trouble.” Kabuto shrugged before realizing he’d said something cruel again, he sighed, “Just keep being you. That’s enough.”

“Tsuki.” Orochimaru’s voice sounded from the shoreline causing the starlight girl to turn to the shore. Kabuto felt his heart flutter unsteadily in his chest as a dazzling smile lit up her face before she flitted across the water’s surface back to the shoreline. He reached out and affectionately pat her atop the head, “The sun will be up soon, go back.”

Tsuki nodded and returned to the lair.

Orochimaru turned as his subordinate appeared on the shore beside him, “Well?”

“She made a friend today.” Kabuto shrugged.

Orochimaru watched her retreating form. Her starlight hair appeared to glow in the moonlight, lighting up the night around her, drawing creatures to her with her surreal appearance, her otherworldly eyes and her sweet charm. There had been a change in her, since she’d been captured by The Hidden Leaf Village. Kabuto was in denial about this fact, but it was as if the docile girl had finally been pushed past the breaking point. She seemed stronger.

“Tsuki being captured by the Hidden Leaf, that was your doing was it not?” He shot a dark look in Kabuto’s direction, gauging his reaction.

All the color drained from the young man’s face, “Ah, what are you talking abou-?”

“I assume she didn’t tell me in order to spare your life.” Orochimaru noted, “That explains the change in your attitude, she holds your life in her hands.” He watched as the fairy like girl disappeared from view. “This isn’t the first time she has spared your life.” His reptilian gaze flicked in Kabuto’s direction and he smirked as the young man flinched.

“I’m aware.” Kabuto attempted to straighten himself up, determined not to show any fear.

“Then it’s only right that you spend your life to repay that debt.” Orochimaru pointed, while Tsuki was a stronger fighter than Kabuto, she was much too soft and didn’t like violence, she’d have a hard time making the first move in a fight, she’d need someone to protect her, someone who wouldn’t hesitate. “Her safety is your top priority.”

Kabuto bowed his head, “Yes, Lord Orochimaru.” Was he really going to spare his life? All he had to do was keep the girl safe? He looked in the direction the starlight girl had disappeared, how hard could it be to keep her safe?

 


	16. Chapter 16

Tsuki woke from a restless sleep of tossing and turning, her dreams filled with nightmares about the Hidden Leaf Shinobi trying to hurt her to hurt Orochimaru. She jumped as strong arms encircled her and let out a squeak as she was suddenly tucked against a taut torso with a layer of blankets in between.

“You’re being noisy.” Orochimaru scolded her lightly as he held her in his arms, she’d spent the majority of the morning flailing about wildly in her sleep and crying out.

“Sorry.” Her voice came out soft and timid.

He looked down at the trembling girl. She’d been calling his name in her sleep. It sounded as if she were worried for him. “What did you dream about?”

Her pale cheeks flushed scarlet. “It’s nothing.” She let out a surprised squeak of terror as she was suddenly rolled over to face him and instinctively flinched as he shot her an annoyed glare.

“Tsuki, you’re trying my patience.”

“S-sorry.”  She bit her lip and averted her gaze, “People were trying to capture me, because they wanted to hurt you.”

Orochimaru’s gaze softened, “You don’t have to worry about that.” He gently stroked her cheek in an attempt to calm her. Once he was sure she was no longer distressed about her nightmares, he released her from his hold and slowly sat up. He chanced a glance back at the starlight girl buried in blankets, “Will you bring lunch for three to the training room, later?”

Tsuki smiled, it was the first time he’d requested her cooking, normally she just brought it to him of her own accord and he’d accept it. She nodded.

“Good.” He lightly pat her on the head and smiled softly to himself as she let out an adorable squeak, embarrassed by his small display of affection.

Tsuki watched as he summoned the small white snake for her before leaving. She smiled to herself as she rolled out of bed and giggled as Yuki lightly coiled around her ankle. “Good morning, Yuki-san.” She beamed as he reached her shoulders and affectionately nuzzled her cheek.

She and Yuki started their day with a few hours cleaning before heading to the kitchen as Tsuki tried to think of something to make for lunch that would help keep everyone’s stamina up for training. Yuki went to wait for her under the kitchen table as she bustled about the kitchen. It had to be nutrient enriched, but still had to taste good.

Deciding on a protein focused meal, she prepared some seared steak and made nutrient enriched rice bowls with high protein steak and nutrient rich vegetables. She retrieved a tray from a small closet tucked around the corner and stacked the three bowls on top before making her way to the training area. Yuki trailed along behind her after happily enjoying some of the raw steak scraps she’d tossed his way.

The training area was pitch black when she arrived and she didn’t sense Orochimaru’s presence. Perhaps he stepped into the lab for a moment? Tsuki slowly stepped into the room and went to set the tray down atop a table in the corner. As she set the tray down she sensed movement behind her. Yuki let out a hiss of warning and attempted to strike at something but was sent flying.

“YUKI-SAN!” Tsuki cried as the pure white snake flew across the room. Her heart pounded in her chest as she sensed movement to her side, approaching quick. She barely managed to dodge a fist aimed for her face before turning to see her attacker.

It was a boy, around Sakura and Naruto’s age with unruly black hair and strange eyes with crimson irises, black pupils and three black tomoe within the crimson iris. She’d never seen eyes like that before. The boy recovered quickly and made a move to strike her with his free hand.

Her body moved reflexively and she caught his wrist in her hand with ease halting his second swing. This only seemed to irritate the boy as he attempted to strike her again. She caught his other wrist with ease.

“Are you Sasuke-kun?” She asked curiously.

The boy froze for the briefest of moments, shooting a glare in her direction, “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

Tsuki frowned at this. He had a bad attitude, perhaps one that rivaled even Kabuto’s.  “Sakura-chan was looking for yo-.” She paused as he shot her a fierce look.

He charged up a large amount of chakra in his hand, it turned into an electrical current and attempted to lash out at her, like the silver haired leaf shinobi had done when she was captured. Instinctively her chakra molded into an electric current to negate his. His eyes widened at this, she hadn’t moved, it was as if her chakra was acting independently.

Tsuki frowned once more, “Please stop trying to hurt me, I don’t like fighting. Sakura-chan is my friend, she was looking for you and was very upset that you were gone, I thought it best I let you know.” She chanced a glance over her shoulder and spotted Yuki slithering toward her. He looked to be unscathed. “Please don’t attack Yuki-san again, he’s like my family.” She released her hold on his wrists as Yuki coiled around her legs and slithered up to her shoulders. “Enjoy your lunch.” With that said she made her way toward the door to head back and clean up the kitchen.

She sensed movement behind her approaching quickly and sighed, he was still trying to attack her. Her body moved reflexively as she remembered the countless hours of training with Orochimaru. She caught Sasuke by the arm with ease, knocked his feet out from under him and pinned him to the floor in the blink of an eye.

“What’s going on here?” Kabuto’s voice sounded from the doorway. He paled as he spotted the beautiful young woman with the pale hair and colorless eyes sitting atop Sasuke’s back pinning him to the floor. Did they fight? “Tsuki, are you alright?” He asked worried causing the girl to turn to him tilting her head to the side curiously.

“What?”

“Did he hurt you?” Kabuto asked again as he stepped into the room and approached the pair.

“Kabuto-san, do you maybe need a new prescription for your glasses?” Tsuki asked curiously.

“GET OFF OF ME!” Sasuke roared growing more and more annoyed as he couldn’t break from the seemingly weak girl’s hold.

“Why are you shout-.” Orochimaru’s voice sounded from the doorway but cut off as he surveyed the scene before him with amusement, “Tsuki?”

Tsuki turned to Lord Orochimaru, meeting his reptilian gaze.

“Did you prepare lunch?” He asked nonchalantly causing Sasuke to snap.

“GET HER OFF OF ME!” Sasuke snarled.

“It’s on the table.” Tsuki replied calmly.

Kabuto looked between the terrifying shinobi and the girl he’d once thought of as frail and weak warily unsure if he should be laughing at the absurdity of the situation and their carefree demeanor or be scared for his life. He knew Tsuki was strong, but he’d never thought she could take Sasuke down with zero effort, even he had to exert effort against him.

“Ah! Sasuke don’t-!” Kabuto yelled as he noticed the irate teen charging up a large amount of lightning chakra in his pinned hands but cut off with a gasp as Tsuki negated it without so much as looking down. He stared at the fairy like girl in awe, if she were ever to get serious, to lose her distaste for violence, she’d be truly terrifying.

Orochimaru smirked at this, “Tsuki, release the boy.”

Tsuki released her hold on Sasuke and retreated to Orochimaru’s side. A faint blush spread across her cheeks as he caught her by the chin and tilted her face up to look her over for any injuries.

“What the hell?!” Sasuke growled as he got to his feet and shot a glare in the starlight girl’s direction, “Who the hell are you?”

“Her name is Tsuki.” Orochimaru answered simply as he released the girl once he was sure she wasn’t injured. Before, if Kabuto bullied her she’d cower, but after her return from the Hidden Leaf Village, something in her changed.

“Why the hell is she here?” Sasuke glared.

“That is of no concern to you.” Orochimaru shrugged before placing his hand to the small of her back and ushering her to the door. “Thank you, Tsuki.”

Tsuki retreated to the kitchen in a daze and looked down at the snake coiled around her shoulders, “Yuki-san, are you okay?”

The pure white snake nodded and nuzzled her cheek affectionately.


	17. Chapter 17

Over the course of a year, Sasuke grew stronger. His training with Orochimaru was already paying off. He could now defeat Kabuto with very little effort. Though he was unsure if he could defeat the strange woman that was always at Orochimaru’s side. Over the year, he’d tried to sneak attack her in the halls, but she always flawlessly avoided his attacks or incapacitated him without breaking stride. She was frustrating, she appeared to be weak and harmless, she was timid and claimed to hate violence and fighting, yet she had a raw natural talent and was quite strong.

Kabuto sighed as he spotted the dark-haired teen hiding, preparing to leap out at the fairy like girl as she delivered their lunch like always. He groaned inwardly as he noticed she was carrying two trays, Lord Orochimaru had asked her to prepare tea with their lunch.

Sasuke leapt from his hiding spot and lunged for the fairy like girl. Kabuto watched in awe as she miraculously tossed both trays in the air before swiftly turning and blocking the teen’s attack. She sent him flying with ease before turning to catch the two trays as they fell, perfectly intact, back down. Failing to learn his lesson, Sasuke lunged again before she’d managed to maintain her grip on the tea tray and knocked it from the air in his attempt to attack her.

Tsuki’s colorless eyes narrowed as the tea tray hit the ground shattering the glass teapot in the process, “Sasuke-kun! That was for Orochimaru-sama!” She snapped causing strong gale shrieking winds to tear through the hall sending the boy flying with enough force he disappeared from Kabuto’s line of sight before slamming into the wall at the very end of the corridor.

Kabuto chuckled, “I didn’t think you were capable of getting angry.” He looked to the fairy like girl as she set down the tray of food so she could gather up the broken glass. His smile fell as she turned to him with what was supposed to be an intimidating glare, but once again turned to a childish pout. “What did I do?”

“You just stood there, you could have helped.” Tsuki frowned as she flipped the upturned tray over and reached for the scattered pieces of glass.

“What’s going on out here?” Orochimaru’s voice snapped from the doorway to the training hall as he went to survey the scene and see what was taking Tsuki so long. His lethal golden green gaze fell on the spilled tea and broken glass before flitting down the hall where Sasuke was slumped against the wall seething with rage and humiliation.

Tsuki jumped, “S-sorry, Orochimaru-sama. I’ll make more tea.” A piece of broken glass slit the side of her hand open as she jumped at his sudden appearance. She winced and drew her hand back with a sharp intake of breath as blood streamed from the wound.

“Make Sasuke clean this up.” Orochimaru shot a look of warning at Kabuto before sweeping the starlight girl into his arms causing her to let out an adorable squeak.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make a mess.” Tsuki bowed her head and watched as the wound on her hand sealed itself shut before fading away to nothing.

Orochimaru placed her atop a crate filled with various targets for kunai and shuriken throwing. He swept her pale hair out of her face and smiled softly as she leaned into his touch. “It’s not your fault.”  His gaze was drawn to her rose petal lips as she bit her bottom lip nervously. “I’d like you to do something for me, Tsuki.”

Her colorless eyes flicked upward.

“I’d like you to help Sasuke with his training.” He noted as Kabuto and Sasuke joined them with the tray of food Tsuki had abandoned in the hall. Sasuke still looked agitated.

Tsuki paled at this. “Fighting?”

Orochimaru nodded. “And for now, you can’t use any ninjutsu.”

Tsuki frowned at this, “I don’t want to hurt him, though. Sakura-chan likes him, for some reason.”

Kabuto chuckled at this as Sasuke shot a glare in her direction.

“Tsuki.” Orochimaru threw her a stern look.

Tsuki bit her lip again as she glanced in the irate teen’s direction. He had never asked her to get involved before. She owed him. Reluctantly she bowed her head. “I’ll do it.”

“Good.” Orochimaru smiled softly before turning as he sensed Sasuke was about to protest.

“I came here, to get stronger, from you, not some girl.” Sasuke glowered, his dark eyes shooting daggers at the pale girl. He seemed to dislike the girl perhaps even more than Kabuto had at first. They bickered a lot.

“I personally trained her, if you can defeat her, then you’ll be ready.” Orochimaru shrugged. “And we’ll still continue our training, think of it as supplemental training.”

“I don’t have time for games!” Sasuke roared, “I am an avenger, that means I must be stronger than my prey-.”

Tsuki turned to Orochimaru sensing the teen was gearing up for a long ridiculous speech, the same speech he’d been spouting over the year he’d been with them, “Should I make more tea?”

“I was talking!” Sasuke snapped clenching his fists at his sides. The pale woman with her strange pure white pupil-less eyes was infuriating.

Tsuki turned to the boy, “Yes, it’s a speech I’ve heard many times before. Just because you say something often enough, does not make it so. Orochimaru-sama has agreed to help you, so trust him.” She didn’t like that he was so focused on revenge, it made him cold and bitter. Because of his goal, he wasn’t truly living his life.

“I thought you didn’t like fighting.” Sasuke shot.

“I don’t.” Tsuki shrugged, “But if Orochimaru-sama, thinks my helping you train, can be useful, then I’ll do it.”


	18. Chapter 18

Tsuki had been training with Sasuke over the course of a year. After a few months he was able to defeat her with the handicap Orochimaru had given him by restricting her ninjutsu abilities. Once he was able to defeat her with the handicap, Orochimaru instructed her to only use her weakest element, water, the process continued and after Sasuke was able to defeat her with her only able to use water, she was able to use water and lightning and it proved to be quite a challenge for him. Over a year’s time he’d still not been able to defeat her using her two weakest elements and was becoming more and more frustrated with his progress.

               Tsuki looked to the teenage boy with the dark hair and dark brooding gaze with a faint smile as he lay flat on his back on the cracked desert earth where they were training.  They’d been moving locations of late, though Tsuki wasn’t entirely sure why. Orochimaru seemed slightly on edge about something, but she had no idea what it was. Whenever she asked him about it he would wave off her concerns and try to convince her there was nothing to worry about, as if he were trying to spare her feelings.

               The moon’s healing glow washed over them and Tsuki closed her eyes with a soft smile basking in the gentle moonbeams. She stretched her arms up to the heaven’s and spun in a circle with a soft giggle. They’d been so busy moving around, that she hadn’t gotten a chance to enjoy the nighttime or dance beneath the moon as she loved to do. Sensing the brooding teen’s gaze, she stopped her spinning and turned to him opening her pupil less eyes. They were usually a milky white in color, looking like unseeing eyes, but they glowed a faint titanium silver in the moonlight.

               “What are you doing?” Sasuke asked her curiously as he struggled to sit up, his ribs ached from their sparring match, but he knew the strange woman had been holding back to ensure she didn’t break any of his bones. It only infuriated him more that she held back.

               “Spinning.” Tsuki said simply with a small smile as she spun again, causing the hem of her pale lavender dress to fan out around her.

               “You look ridiculous, you’re not a child.” Sasuke frowned but paused as he noticed the wildlife that had been in hiding during their training had started to come out. Coyotes, wild hares, and foxes all left their den’s in their desert surroundings to approach the young woman glowing in the starlight.

               Tsuki paused her spinning as she noticed the wildlife and smiled as a pair of kits swarmed toward her rubbing against her legs before flopping on their backs for belly rubs. She knelt on the dried-out earth to play with the kits rubbing their bellies and skittering her fingers across the earth laughing as they chased after her fingers and nipped at them playfully.

               “Stop messing around, let’s get back to training!” Sasuke snapped as he managed to roll to his feet only to pause as the surrounding animals tensed, some of the coyotes growled and bared their fangs.

               “You’re making them nervous.” Tsuki noted without looking back at the angry teen. “You should relax.” She extended her hand to the growling coyotes. They calmed down and approached the young woman, drawn to her pure presence like most beings. “Don’t mind Sasuke-kun, he’s always grumpy.” Her soft voice cooed to the surrounding animals, angering the teen further.

               “Shut up!” Sasuke glowered but jumped as one of the coyotes lunged for him. It halted its attack as Tsuki held her hand up, drawing his gaze to the strange black crescent moon brand like marking seared into her palm.

               “Sasuke-kun, animals can sense emotions, when your tense and angry they’ll perceive it as a threat and lash out.” Tsuki scolded him.

               Sasuke rolled his eyes at this, but kept his mouth shut. Over the year he’d spent training with the girl, he had learned a lot. Though he’d never admit it to her, he was glad she was helping him as a mentor, she had a calming effect on him and kept him grounded. He’d opened up to her on a few occasions telling her about his humiliating defeat against his older brother, Itachi and shared his pain and rage at the loss of his entire Clan at his brother’s hands. As infuriating as she was, he had to admit she was a great listener.

               He calmed himself down and noticed the animals begin to relax and a few wild hares approached him. His dark gaze flit to the strange young woman, her colorless hair appeared to glow in the moonlight, giving her an ethereal appearance. “What’s that mark on your hand?” He asked her curiously keeping his tone even knowing she’d scold him if he continued barking at her.

               “Hm?” Tsuki turned to him curiously and held up her hand flashing the crescent moon at him once more, “This?”

               Sasuke nodded.

               Tsuki looked off in the distance, in the direction of their temporary shelter, with a small faraway smile dancing across her lips, “It’s a secret.” She giggled.

               Sasuke hurled a kunai at her in annoyance and leapt back as the coyotes snarled and lunged at him once more. His gaze flit to the pale young woman as she caught the kunai with ease, her lips pulling into a frown. He withdrew his sword to fend off the coyotes only to stare in awe as the pale woman vanished from sight and appeared before him catching his blade with her bare hand stopping him from attacking the coyotes. Her faint glowing titanium eyes narrowed into a glare.

               “You’ll never be able to defeat Itachi if you can’t learn to control your emotions, Sasuke.” She chided him, tightening her hold on the blade as she felt resistance. The coyotes halted their attack and looked to the starlight girl acting as their protector. Blood dripped from the palm of her hand.

               “SHUT UP!” Sasuke snarled and attempted once more to pull the blade from her grip only to stare in awe as she tightened her hold causing a steady stream of blood to pour to the ground making all of the animals uneasy.

               “Enough!” Tsuki raised her voice and a raging gust of wind whipped past her picking the irate teen up off his feet causing him to release his hold on the hilt of his sword, sending him flying.

               Sasuke landed flat on his back near the entrance of their temporary shelter, a small cave tucked in the side of a rocky mountain range. The impact of the fall instantly knocked the breath from his lungs and he coughed and sputtered in an attempt to regulate his breathing as he lay sprawled across the dried red earth outside of the cave. He looked upward as he sensed someone approach and felt his heart stutter in his chest as he spotted Orochimaru glaring down at him.

               “What did you do to Tsuki?” The older shinobi asked with a hiss, his lethal golden green reptilian gaze boring into the irate teen.

               “Me? She just sen-.” He cut off as the man with the long straight ebony hair caught him by the front of his shirt and wrenched him to his feet.

               “She’s hurt.” Those reptilian eyes narrowed into slits.

               “I’ll go get her.” Kabuto offered as he stepped out of the temporary shelter and threw a wary look at the now very irate pair. Sasuke’s bad temper could not rival that of Lord Orochimaru’s when someone dared to harm Tsuki.

               Orochimaru released his hold on the teen, dropping him to the earth and vanished from sight in an instant. Kabuto and an irate Sasuke raced after him, in the direction Sasuke had just flown from. They paused as they neared the spot where Sasuke and Tsuki had been training.

               Tsuki was surrounded by wildlife all standing around her protectively, once the lethal shinobi arrived, the animals moved away giving him room. Blood pooled on the cracked earth streaming from the deep gash in the palm of her hand. Her faintly glowing titanium eyes flit in Orochimaru’s direction as he approached her slowly.

               “I’m sorry.” She whimpered softly, “I was carel-.” She cut off with a squeak as he swept her off her feet.

               “Are you alright, Tsuki?” Orochimaru asked her softly causing Kabuto and Sasuke to exchange curious glances.

               “I-I’m okay.” Tsuki blushed.

               Orochimaru’s gaze was drawn to her bleeding palm, the wound was deep enough it had hit bone, he’d known from his own discomfort that it had caused her a great deal of pain. The wound slowly began to seal shut, but he was worried about the girl. She’d lost a lot of blood; her skin was paler than usual. Her pale glowing eyes flit past him to where Kabuto and Sasuke were hiding.

               “Sasuke, you need to apologize!” She attempted to wriggle out of Orochimaru’s hold but found his grip unbreakable and gave up after a few meager attempts.

               “What?! You sent me flying!” Sasuke grumbled as he and a reluctant Kabuto joined the pair.

               “Not to me, to the animals, you scared them.” Tsuki scolded him causing Kabuto to blanch slightly expecting the teen to lose his temper and try something stupid but was more than a little surprised when the teen sighed in defeat.

               “Alright, calm down.” Sasuke huffed before looking at the gathering of wary animals, “Sorry for scaring you.” His dark gaze shot to the strange young woman in the legendary sannin’s arms. “Happy?”

               Tsuki grinned. In all honesty, she was happy. Orochimaru relied on her more and kept her at his side more than before, Kabuto hadn’t been mean to her in two years and even the bratty teen was starting to warm up to her. It had been a long time since she’d had a family and she’d feared she’d forget what it felt like. She had a family again, a somewhat violent unorthodox family, but it felt like family all the same and it made her happy.


	19. Chapter 19

Orochimaru and Kabuto had gone off on their own to obtain something for their research but thought better than to keep Tsuki in the loop. They left her and Sasuke at their new temporary shelter. It was an underground labyrinth surrounded by dozens of hidden poison wasp nests tucked within various dried mountains of mud and clay.

There was a knock at the door of the bedroom she and Orochimaru were sharing in the new base. “Tsuki?” Sasuke’s voice sounded from the other side of the door bringing a small smile to her lips.

She left Yuki curled up atop the bed. He was sound asleep. Without Orochimaru, Tsuki still struggled to fall asleep on her own. What did Sasuke want at this late hour in the evening? “What’s wrong Sasuke-kun?” Tsuki asked curiously as she opened the door.

He was dressed and armed, looking ready for battle. Wearing his usual dark pants, white top with the Uchiha crest on the back and the same kind of purple rope around his waist that Orochimaru usually wore. His sword was secured at his hip. Tsuki looked down and noticed he was even wearing shoes.

“Going somewhere?” She pondered.

“I want to train.” Sasuke said simply.

Tsuki frowned at this. Orochimaru told her to stay in the base. He had seemed almost worried. Perhaps there were strong foes nearby. “Okay, but we have to stay inside.”

“That seems counterproductive.” Sasuke shot her a dark look, “I’ll just train by myself.” He turned to walk away but paused as Tsuki caught him by the back of the shirt.

“No. It’s not safe. Orochimaru-sama said we should stay inside.” Tsuki attempted to reason with the teen.

“Then stay inside.” Sasuke shot before launching a fire-based attack into the air knowing it would hurt her eyes and she’d release her hold on him.

Tsuki lost her grip and gasped in pain as her retinas and her skin burned from the sudden blaze. “Sasuke-kun!” She called in a panic, he’d disappeared. She took off at a run heading toward the base’s exit, not caring that she was barefoot or only wearing a simple pale periwinkle nightgown.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She had to find Sasuke! She made it above ground and scanned the dark drylands. They were in the middle of a rocky plain with a few scattered boulders and a field of dried out dying grass due to the lack of rain. Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

“SASUKE?!” She yelled his name in a panic.

Silence.

Tsuki felt her stomach churn uneasily, not that she had expected him to respond anyway as he seemed to be taking the role of rebellious moody teen way too seriously. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on his chakra to see if she could sense it. He’d gotten pretty far. Gathering as much wind chakra as she could behind her to push her onward faster than she’d ever gone before, she took off after the teen.

As she drew nearer to where she sensed his presence she felt a sense of panic as she picked up on the presence of two other beings, two strong beings. In the distance she heard Sasuke yelling something incoherent, he sounded angry and desperate.

“SASUKE!” Tsuki screamed as she dropped into a small patch of forest where she’d sensed his presence. She landed swiftly on a patch of soft plush grass next to the brooding teen.

Sasuke was breathless and gasping for air, blood dribbled from the corner of his lip; he had a deep wound on his side and several smaller ones on his arms and legs. His sword was missing. Tsuki jumped as she sensed someone approaching her from behind with a lethal attack. Rage bubbled up inside of her as she looked down at the teen who was supposed to be in her care, beaten broken and bruised. A strong gust of wind whipped past her as she turned to face her attacker. The wind shrieked in a deafening howl as it tore past her and picked up her would be attacker sending him flying. Her heart pounded unsteadily in her chest as she got a glimpse of his cloak before he’d been uprooted in her gust. A black cloak, with white outlined red clouds, The Akatsuki, one of Orochimaru’s many terrifying enemies.

“T-Tsuki, get out of here.” Sasuke coughed as he struggled to get to his feet. “This has nothing to do with you.”

Tsuki turned to the remaining foe, wearing the same cloak, a boy maybe a year or two her junior, about twenty years old, with long slightly ashy black hair pulled into a loose ponytail. She avoided meeting his gaze as she’d already worked out who he was from how unsettled Sasuke had become, Itachi Uchiha. Her gaze fell to Sasuke’s sword in Itachi’s hand. Something felt off about their enemies, they were oddly quiet, like they weren’t really, physically there, like they were mere projections. Strong projections.

“Your safety is my concern.” Tsuki said softly, “We’re leaving now.”

“No!” Sasuke glowered at her, “I’m an avenger, I have to do-.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed, you’re not strong enough, yet!” Tsuki snapped at him. “We’re leaving! Now!” She sensed the man she’d sent flying a moment before was on his feet and heading in their direction.

“Just stay out of this!” Sasuke yelled at her before launching himself at his older brother.

“No!” Tsuki darted after him just as she noticed Itachi throw Sasuke’s sword, it would kill him!

She caught the teen from behind and hurriedly spun him around to protect him from the blade. Sasuke’s sword pierced her through the back, next to her heart the blade protruded from her chest, impaling her. Sasuke’s eyes widened as he realized what had happened. She’d saved him.

“Tsuki!”

Blood dribbled from the corners of her lips as she pulled the teen against her before holding out her right arm activating the summoning seal Manda had gifted her. She and Sasuke disappeared from the forest and reappeared in what appeared to be a small village. The village looked as if it had been recently attacked. Buildings had been reduced to cinders and the smell of decay and burning flesh filled their nostrils the moment they reappeared.

Manda was nowhere in sight. What had happened? The snake like marking had appeared on her arm and they’d somehow been transported elsewhere, but why wasn’t Manda here? She sensed Orochimaru’s presence nearby. If she didn’t get to him soon, they were both going to die.

“Tsuki!” Sasuke panicked, “What the hell were you thinking?!” His eyes grew wide as the pale young woman coughed up an alarming amount of blood.

“F-find…O-Orochimaru-s-sama…” Tsuki choked. “N-now.”

Sasuke paled, he couldn’t leave her. “Tsuki!” He cried as she slipped to her knees and nearly fell face first to the earth but managed to catch herself on her hands.

“Sasuke?” He turned as he heard a familiar voice and spotted Kabuto stepping from behind a collapsed building. His onyx eyes grew wide as he looked beyond the teen to the pale young woman on her hands and knees, struggling to cling to consciousness with a sword protruding from her back. “TSUKI!” Kabuto ran to the pale beauty as fear and panic gripped his heart. “LORD OROCHIMARU! HURRY!” He called over his shoulder. “What the hell happened?” Kabuto glared at Sasuke, his gaze fell on the sword and his eyes widened as he recognized it, “SASUKE-!” He lunged for the still shell-shocked teen.

“I-It w-wasn’t S-Sasuke’s f-fault…” Tsuki coughed, her heartbeat was beginning to slow. She chanced a glance upward as she felt his presence and she felt her heart stutter in her chest. He was paler than usual and looked to be in pain. His lethal golden green eyes widened as he spotted her.

“Tsuki!” She felt a sense of calm wash over her as he reached her and offered her support. Helping her to sit upright on her knees.

“I’m s-sorry.” Tsuki breathed softly, his touch wasn’t enough, the wound was too severe.

“Sh. It’s alright, Tsuki.” His voice sounded somewhat strained. “Kabuto, remove the blade.” He ordered.

“Ah, Lord Orochimaru, it’s too close to her heart, it could kill he-.”

“NOW!” Orochimaru hissed causing Kabuto and the still shell-shocked Sasuke to jump.

Kabuto cringed and pulled the blade from the girl’s back trying to keep the blade as steady as possible and praying he hadn’t nicked her heart in the process. Tsuki let out a cry of pain as the blade was removed but it fell short as Orochimaru pulled her against him, willing her to heal as he cradled her in his arms.

Blood poured from her wound instantly soaking the front of his shirt, it wasn’t healing fast enough, her life was in danger. He felt his heart drop at the thought of losing her, never getting to see her charming smile or hear her sweet laughter or watch her dance beneath the moonlight. “Tsuki.” His voice cracked as he noticed her eyelids begin to flutter closed. “Don’t you dare die on me, troublesome girl.” He pressed his lips to hers, capturing her soft lips in a sweet tender caress.

Life flooded into the fading girl. Strength returned to her as her wound began to mend. Kabuto steered Sasuke away as he noticed the color returning to the pale girl and his face burned scarlet at what he’d witnessed.

Tsuki melted into the kiss, her arm instinctively hooking around the sannin’s neck, deepening the kiss as she felt something stir within her. Strength and power pulsated through her. She felt stronger than ever, like she could move mountains. Realization dawned on her and she fell back with a squeak as her pale cheeks flushed crimson.

“Ah! I’m so sorry, Orochimaru-sam-.” She cut off with another squeak as his hand gripped her wrist tightly and she met his lethal gaze. Her heart hammered in her chest as she saw something she’d never before seen in his gaze. A warmth that hadn’t been there before, a hunger that only seemed to be growing and something much deeper, love.

He recovered quickly and eased his grip on her wrist, “Are you alright?”

Tsuki managed a nod as he slowly got to his feet and offered her a hand up. She nervously accepted the hand he offered her as what felt like thousands of butterflies went spastic inside of her stomach. Once on her feet she swayed unsteadily and let out a soft gasp as his arms wound around her waist, keeping her upright. Her heart skipped a beat as she wound her arms around his neck to keep from toppling over as her world began to spin.

“Tsuki?” Orochimaru looked down at the starlight girl in concern.

“S-sorry.” She gasped breathless at their sudden closeness, “I was just a little dizzy.” Her heart felt like it was going to catapult right out of her chest it was beating so fast. Tsuki hesitantly lifted her head and met his breathtaking gaze. Before she knew what was happening she leaned forward in a daze. Another squeak escaped her as she realized what she’d been about to do and she hurriedly took a step back. “Th-thank you for saving me, Orochimaru-sama.” Her pale moonbeam hair fell in front of her flushed face.


	20. Chapter 20

Tsuki woke with a start only to realize Lord Orochimaru wasn’t beside her. Though her wounds had been healed after she protected Sasuke from the projection of his older brother, her chakra seemed out of sorts and she found herself more tired than usual and was even able to fall asleep without being in Lord Orochimaru’s presence, for the first time. She scanned the dark bedroom and jumped as she spotted the surly dark-haired teen standing at her bedside with a scowl.

“S-Sasuke-kun, w-what are you doing?” She panicked as she sat upright.

“Where’s Orochimaru, we were supposed to have training?” He grumbled his gaze dropping to the revealed scar on the young woman’s chest as her pale grey nightgown shifted slightly as she sat up. She should have died from the wound she’d received, it was fatal, yet somehow Orochimaru was able to heal her with a single kiss and all that remained was a faint red angry scar on her chest.

Tsuki yawned and stretched her arms up to the heaven’s before slipping out of bed, “I don’t know. How about breakfast?”

“Its afternoon.” He pointed in annoyance.

“Lunch?”

Sasuke shrugged, “Fine.” He watched her carefully as she wrapped a soft pale grey robe over herself and headed for the door. Her steps were somewhat wobbly and sluggish. “Why’d you save me?”

Tsuki paused at the door and turned to him, her pure white eyes expressing concern, the boy seemed unusually chatty and she could see guilt and remorse revealed on his face as he strained to keep a mask of indifference in place. “You can’t avenge anything or anyone if you are dead…”

“You don’t agree with me being an avenger-.”

“I didn’t say that.” Tsuki smirked, “I just don’t think you talking about it so much is helping you get to where you need to be in your training. Your need to be an avenger is what is holding you back. You’re not ready yet.” She shrugged as she turned and exited the room heading for the kitchen.

Sasuke clenched his fists and darted after her but paused as he noticed the unsteadiness of her gait. After the fight with Itachi’s projection, when she’d nearly lost her life she seemed weak and everything she did seemed to require much more effort. “How are you still alive?”

Tsuki smiled softly at this, “Because my life is not mine alone.”

Sasuke frowned not understanding her meaning. “What the hell is that supposed to me-.” He cut off with a gasp as she turned to him quick as lightning and flicked him on the forehead.

“Perhaps one day when you realize there’s more to life than being an avenger and you find people you love and want to protect, you will understand.”

Deciding not to press the issue further Sasuke reluctantly trailed after her to the kitchen. He watched as she set to work preparing him a tasty and nutritious lunch. For the briefest of moments, he was transported to a time long ago as he watched the young woman cook and familiar smells of home wafted through the air. It reminded him of a time when he was still a child, when his mother was still alive and would cook for him.

“Sasuke-kun? What’s wrong?” Tsuki asked him curiously as she noticed the morose look upon his face.

“Nothing. I’m not hungry anymore.” He muttered under his breath before turning and storming away.

Sasuke made his way to an elaborate underground Great Hall where he and Orochimaru usually met before training. He went to sit atop a set of a few steps leading to what almost looked like a throne carved in the stone fashioned to look like a snake. It was dark, like most of the rooms in the lair with only a few low burning torches at the far corners of the room a modification Orochimaru had taken into consideration for the pale girl’s light sensitivity.  The surly teen lost himself in his dwindling thoughts of home from a time when all was still right in his world. Tsuki’s cooking was nostalgic and made with love and tended to spark pleasant memories from a happy childhood that only caused him pain.

After a few moments the giant double doors of the Great Hall like room swung open with a groan. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed into a glare as he spotted Kabuto, Orochimaru and a boy about his age that he had no recognition of.

“You’re late.” He growled at Orochimaru deciding the other two weren’t worth his time. “Am I mistaken or weren’t you supposed to be here to help me hone a new jutsu this afternoon, Orochimaru?” The teen continued in annoyance as he snuffed out his feelings of nostalgia, homesickness and grief.

Kabuto frowned at him, “There’s that insolent tone again.”

Orochimaru didn’t seem phased by his poor attitude, his reptilian golden green eyes revealing nothing as he spoke, “Try not to be too upset. I thought we’d do something different today, so I brought along a little present for you.” Those lethal snake like eyes flicked downward to the new teen at his side, a boy of Sasuke’s age with short straight black hair, pale skin, dark eyes and an emotionless mask plastered on his face. “He’s a leaf shinobi like you. I thought you two might like to get together and reminisce. Swap stories of home.” It was almost as if the lethal shinobi had sensed he was feeling nostalgic moments before and was trying to get a rise out of him.

“So, I presume, you’re Sasuke Uchiha.” The newcomer said with a fake closed eyed smile, that made the surly teen’s skin crawl in annoyance and made him want to lash out, “My name is Sai-.”

“Get lost.” Sasuke snarled.

“Sasuke-kun!” Tsuki’s voice snapped from behind him as she stepped into the Great Hall like room with the giant carved snake statue from a door at the side of the hall. Her colorless eyes swept over to the other door and grew wide as she spotted Orochimaru, Kabuto and some boy around Sasuke’s age she didn’t know. Her senses had been thrown off ever since the night she’d saved Sasuke. She turned back to the surly teen and shoved a plate of food into his hands before folding her arms across her chest, “Don’t be wasteful.”

Sasuke threw her a glare and opened his mouth to protest but cut off as her colorless eyes narrowed and she angrily placed her hands on her hips.

“You wanted lunch.” She reminded him coolly.

“No, I agreed to lunch.” He attempted to correct her only to jump as she flicked him in the forehead.

“Same thing.”

“Fine, I’ll eat it.” Sasuke grumbled.

Another flick.

“OW! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Where are your manners?!” Tsuki snapped.

“Thank you for the food.” Sasuke huffed as color flooded his cheeks.

“Better. You’re welcome, Sasuke-kun.” Tsuki smiled before disappearing from sight only to appear before Orochimaru causing the other teen to jump at her sudden appearance, she was fast, “Welcome home, Orochimaru-sama.”

Orochimaru noticed the pallor to her skin, the weariness in her gaze and the dark circles beneath her eyes right away. He reached out and swept her pale silvery white hair away from her face lightly caressing her cheek, rubbing his thumb across her cheekbone hoping some of the color would come back to her pallid skin. There was a faint change, but it wasn’t as immediate or as drastic of a change as it used to be with a single touch.

“Thank you, Tsuki.” He said softly.

“Who’s this?” Tsuki turned to the new teen, who appeared to be a fan of dark clothing, with the straight dark hair, pale skin and with a hidden leaf village forehead protector adorning his forehead.

“Sai, I brought him here as a present for Sasuke.” Orochimaru said simply though she noticed something deeper within his reptilian gaze, it was more like he’d brought the boy to Sasuke to get a reaction out of him. He pulled the pale girl closer to him draping an arm across her delicate shoulders hoping more contact would help with the pallor of her skin and the tired look in her eyes. The girl had been sleeping much more than usual and she still looked tired all the time. It had been too close of a call, he’d nearly lost her and it had taken every last ounce of her chakra to seal the fatal wound. Even the great Towa Clan had their limits.

“It seems I’m the sort of person that people don’t like right away, even if I wear a smile.” Sai’s gaze never left the surly teen as he finished the plate of food, “Naruto took an instant disliking to me as well. However, I have a funny feeling that you and I will get along better than I did with him.”

Tsuki frowned at this, the newcomer’s tone seemed like he too was trying to get a rise out of Sasuke and while Sasuke would hesitate to lash out at Orochimaru, he wouldn’t hesitate with this boy. She looked to Sasuke and sighed as she noticed him using his sharingan on the boy. The boy trembled and took two faltering steps back before tripping and falling to the floor.

Kabuto shot the surly teen a glare, “Sasuke!” He attempted to reprimand him to no avail.

Orochimaru looked to the shaken boy sitting on the floor, “It’s probably not a good idea to provoke Sasuke-kun too much. He’s even more difficult than I am.”

Tsuki frowned sensing Sasuke was going to do more and turned her colorless eyes to the surly teen, “Sasuke-kun, enough.” Her voice took on an edge that none of them had heard before.

“I don’t care about this guy.” Sasuke retorted coolly. “Come on, Orochimaru, let’s go.”

Sai got to his feet after taking a moment to collect himself, “I’ve heard a lot about you from Naruto. It seems he’s been searching for you all this time. For three years now.”

“I remember someone like that.” Sasuke got to his feet, “Orochimaru, let’s go.” He turned to walk away.

“You mean a great deal to Naruto. He thinks of you as a brother. At least, that’s what Sakura told me.” Sai continued causing Tsuki to turn to him, he knew Sakura-chan? Sasuke cast him a sideways glare at this, he’d struck a nerve!

“As far as brother’s go, I have only one. The one that I must kill.” He made a move to attack the boy, but froze as Tsuki met him head on, negating his attack with ease, despite her fatigue. “What the hell are you do-?”

“Take your plate to the kitchen, I’m not your maid.” Tsuki spun him around and turned him back to the direction of the empty plate he’d left sitting next to where he’d been moments before. She flicked him on the back of the head, “And watch how you speak to Orochimaru-sama.” Another flick, “Work on your manners in general.” Another flick. “If I ever catch you speaking to Sakura-chan like this you’re in big trouble.”

“Ow! You’re so infuriating, you’re not my mother!” Sasuke raged as fire sparked at his fingertips causing the pale girl to cringe at the sudden blinding light, before he could try to apologize a violent wind raged past and sent him flying into the opposite wall.

Kabuto and the new dark-haired teen, Sai, stared at the pale young woman in awe. She looked sickly standing in the dim light in nothing more than a pale grey nightgown with a soft robe thrown over top, her feet were bare and her usually pale skin looked an unhealthy pale, yet she’d still thrown the terrifying teen across the room like he was nothing.

Orochimaru chuckled at this, “Tsuki, come here.” He held his hand out to starlight girl as Sasuke picked up his plate and disappeared in a huff.

Her steps were somewhat shaky as she made her way toward the lethal shinobi. As she placed her hand in his she let out a squeak as he pulled her closer and swept her into his arms. She felt something tucked into his shirt, like a stack of documents as he held her against him.

“Tsuki, give those to Kabuto.” Orochimaru’s voice was soft as he addressed her. Tsuki scrambled to retrieve the envelope with the documents and handed them to Kabuto. “Make a bingo book out of its contents. I’ll leave everything up to you.” He said somewhat coolly before turning on his heel, carrying Tsuki away from the others.

Once they were far enough away from the others he noticed her body begin to relax in his grip. Her colorless eyes fluttered closed as if she were about to drift to sleep, but she stubbornly shook her head and struggled to keep herself awake.

“Are you alright, Tsuki?”

Her smile was warm and bright and instantly melted his heart, “I’m okay. Sorry if I caused you any trou-.”

He cut her off with a single look, “You have nothing to apologize for…” His voice trailed off, he’d wanted to add that she’d never have to apologize for anything. “I must admit I’m impressed with how well you handle Sasuke-kun. He listens to you.”

“Not very often.” Tsuki admitted.

“More than anyone else.” Orochimaru shrugged.

“Why did you really bring Sai here, it wasn’t just to provoke Sasuke, was it?”

Orochimaru chuckled, the girl was far too perceptive for her own good at times. “I think he might be trying to spy on us.”

“You’re not going to kill him, are you?” Tsuki blanched.

“Would that displease you?”

“He knows Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun. It might make them sad…I don’t want Sakura-chan to be sad.”

Orochimaru looked down at the frail girl in his arms curiously, she was soft and sweet and had a caring heart, yet she was a fearsome fighter when she put her mind to it and he’d witnessed a sterner, harder side of her when scolding Sasuke. Everything about her drew him in and made him want to discover more, he wanted to know more of her personality, mannerisms and moods. “I won’t kill him.” He assured her and felt his heart flutter in his chest at the breathtaking smile that lit up her face.

“Thank you, Orochimaru-sama.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.


	21. Chapter 21

Tsuki woke with a start as she slipped beneath the water’s surface of her soothing warm bath. She resurfaced coughing and sputtering as she desperately tried to refill her lungs with oxygen and expel the water from them. Her fatigue was starting to become a detriment to her health. Shakily, she climbed from the tub and dried her soaking body with a fluffy white towel. The door to the bedroom opened.

“Orochimaru-sama?” She called curiously wondering why he’d be attempting to keep silent, her senses were still off. Slipping a simple black silk kimono over her now slightly damp body she poked her head out of the bathroom door, only to jump as a large beam of wood shot toward her.

Panicked she fell back into the bathroom to avoid the beam of wood only to let out a scream as it followed her into the bathroom before winding around her waist, pinning her arms at her sides before hardening.        

The bathroom door opened the rest of the way and Tsuki strained to see the man framed in the doorway. He was a leaf Shinobi, a few years her senior, wearing the traditional leaf Shinobi garb, his hair was a dark brown and stood up atop his head in an unruly fashion, and he had dark blank eyes and a stoic expression frozen on his face.

Before she could question the intruder, she heard a familiar voice, “Captain Yamato is everything alright, I thought I heard a sc-.” Sakura appeared in the doorway but cut off with a gasp as she noticed the pale starlight woman now being held captive. The pink haired girl had grown up over the years, she was taller now and had the figure of a young woman instead of a child. Her pale jade eyes no longer held uncertainty and fear as they had before they were filled with strength and determination, “Tsuki! Ah! Captain Yamato, please let her go, she’s not one of Orochimaru’s henchmen.”

“What?!” The man looked hesitant, “If you try anything-.” He attempted to warn the pale young woman but Sakura cut him off.

“She’s my friend.”

Reluctantly the leaf shinobi released the starlight girl from her bonds. Once free Tsuki shakily got to her feet and shot a wary look in the man’s direction. Sakura stepped forward and wrapped the pale woman in a hug.

“You look all grown up, Sakura-chan.” Tsuki smiled as she hugged the girl back. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for Sasuke, do you know where he-?”

“This looks like it would be Orochimaru’s private quarters.” Yamato cut off the pink-haired teen as he looked around the enormous regal bedchamber with intricate snake like accents and statues. He threw a suspicious look to the pale young woman as she and Sakura broke from their hug.

“It is.” Tsuki replied simply in a dismissive tone before turning to Sakura, “My senses are a little off at the moment so I can’t detect his presence, he and Orochimaru-sama were going to train…if they’re finished then he’d probably have gone back to his room. I can show you the way if you like.”

Sakura hugged the pale woman once more, “Yes, please. Thank you, Tsuki!”

“May I possibly get changed first?” Tsuki inquired not liking how the silk material molded to her damp torso clinging sinfully to every delicate curve in her body.

“I’m not sure I trust you entirely and don’t really want to let you out of my sight.” Yamato replied his tone even.

Tsuki shrugged at this and led the way out of the room. Sakura fell in step beside her happy to see the pale young woman who’d saved her before and happy to see she seemed, for the most part, okay. There was a sickly pallor to her skin and dark circles beneath her colorless eyes, but she seemed stronger than before.

They didn’t make it more than a few steps away from Tsuki and Orochimaru’s private quarters before Sakura suddenly winced as if in pain and gripped her left arm. Tsuki struggled to catch the pink-haired teen as she swayed on her feet.

“Ah! Sakura-chan! What’s wrong?” Tsuki yelped as she struggled to support the girl. She slipped to her knees easing Sakura to the ground partially in her arms.

“Sorry, Tsuki.” Sakura cringed.

Tsuki’s colorless eyes swept over the scratches adorning Sakura’s left arm. Something was off about the wound, almost like the chakra that had been used to create it was currently poisoning the young girl.  Biting her lip, Tsuki placed her hand over the wound, if Orochimaru knew he’d be angry. She shouldn’t be using much chakra in her current state, so soon after such a severe injury, but Sakura was in more pain than she was letting on.

“What happened?” Tsuki’s voice had a calming effect on the pink-haired girl as she wielded her regenerative chakra and smoothed it over Sakura’s wound.

“N-Naruto lost control of the nine tails’ chakra, its okay, I’ll be fi-.” Her eyes grew wide as the wound on her arm began to fade away. It wasn’t a medical ninjutsu, she had no idea how the strange young woman had managed it. The pain ebbed away to nothing and in seconds all that remained was a faint red scar where the scratches had been.

Tsuki gaped at this, “Why does Naruto-kun have nine tails chakra?”

Sakura laughed nervously at this, “Oh, I guess you’re even less involved than I thought. Naruto is a jinchuriki.” She flexed her fingers and stared down at her arm in awe, there wasn’t any pain. “Tsuki, that’s amazing, how did you do that?”

Tsuki smiled, “It’s just something my clan can do. Does it hurt anymore?”

Sakura shook her head, “Not at all, thank you.” She swung to her feet feeling stronger than she had before but looked down at the pale woman in concern as she noticed a slight tremor in her fingers and a shakiness as she swayed to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about me, let’s find Sasuke-kun.” Her smile was convincing, but there was still worry and doubt lingering in the back of Sakura’s mind.

“Tsuki, how long have you known Orochimaru?” Sakura asked her curiously as she offered her an arm for support. She didn’t know much about the young woman that always seemed to come to her rescue.

“Fifteen years or so.” Tsuki noted with a shrug as she leaned on the pink-haired girl for support.

“And what exactly is the nature of your relationship?” Yamato pondered as he watched the girl carefully taking notice of her deteriorating condition.

“It’s complicated.” Tsuki sighed as she steered Sakura in the right direction, toward Sasuke’s room.

Sakura nearly gasped as she saw the faintest hint of emotion deep within Tsuki’s colorless eyes, love. She loved Orochimaru! How could that be? She’d heard from Ino’s father that Tsuki was his prisoner, she’d been worried for her over the years. Why would she love him? “You love him…”

Tsuki’s pale cheeks flushed scarlet, “Eh?! W-what are you talking about? I thought we were looking for Sasuke!” She buried her face behind her pale sheets of moonbeam hair.

Sakura couldn’t help but smile at her friend. It was true.  The girls paused as they realized their companion had faltered.

“Captain Yamato, what’s wrong?” Sakura asked the man as he placed a hand to his temple as if he were trying to concentrate on something.

“It’s Naruto. Something’s going on.” He frowned, “Let’s go, this way!”

“Naruto-kun is here?” Tsuki looked to Sakura curiously as Yamato wielded a chakra Tsuki had never seen before and created another wooden beam like the one that had attacked her earlier, it burst through the wall to their left. “I hope he’s not gotten caught in another trap.” She sighed causing Sakura to laugh.

They followed Captain Yamato through the newly formed tunnels his strange wood style technique had created. When they stepped out of the end Tsuki spotted Naruto facing off against Orochimaru and blanched as she felt his reptilian gaze latch onto her. Her skin burned as his eyes swept over the simple black silk kimono clinging to her still damp body before narrowing into a glare, he was pissed!

“Orochimaru, again, huh?” Yamato commented casually as he and Sakura took up defensive stances on either side of Naruto.

“Tsuki.” His tone was sharp and commanding but there was worry in his lethal gaze as he took in her deteriorating appearance, “Come.”

Tsuki cleared the space between them, her steps somewhat shaky without the support of the pink-haired teen. Once she was within reach, he gently caught her hand in his and frowned, it was cool to the touch.  His touch didn’t seem to have the same healing effect as before, he blamed himself, he’d spent a lot of chakra and energy fighting with the leaf shinobi earlier and training with Sasuke and no longer had enough to help the beautiful starlight girl.

“Naruto. For now, I’ll let you live.” Orochimaru addressed the blonde-haired teen in a crisp icy tone as he pulled the pale girl closer to him and swept her off her feet. “I hope you’ll repay me by eliminating at least one more member of the Akatsuki.”

“Say what?!” Naruto growled, still quick as ever to lose his temper.

“I’m afraid I have some important business with Tsuki that can’t wait. So, if you’ll excuse me.” He prepared to take off but paused as the pale young woman placed a hand to his chest drawing his attention. “What is it?” He asked her curiously.

“Can you summon Yuki-san for me?” Tsuki asked feebly.

Orochimaru summoned the pristine pure white snake that usually accompanied the starlight girl.

“Yuki-san, help Sakura-chan, please.” Tsuki looked to the pink haired girl with a smile, “He’ll listen to you and show you the way.”

Sakura held back her smile as she realized what Tsuki had done, if she asked the snake to take her to Sasuke’s room, it would show her the way. “Thank you, Tsuki. I’ll keep him safe.”

Tsuki smiled at her young friend, “It was good seeing you again, Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun. Take care.” She waved before Orochimaru spirited her away, disappearing with her in his arms in a flash.

They arrived back at their private quarters. From the looks of the room, it appeared there had been a brief struggle in the bathroom and Orochimaru deduced what had happened quickly. He sighed as he gingerly set the weakened girl on the bed.

“You healed the girl…”

Tsuki paled, “Y-yes.”

Orochimaru sighed and leaned forward capturing her delicately soft lips in a sweet kiss giving her strength, “Troublesome girl.”

“S-sorry.” Tsuki squeaked as her cheeks flushed with color and she hurriedly buried her face behind her moonbeam hair as he pulled back, relieved that some of her fatigue and weariness seemed to have dissipated.

“It’s alright. I’m glad you got to see your friend.” He gently smoothed his hands through her hair, his gaze flicked downward to the deep V-neck opening of the silken kimono. It was low enough to reveal the angry red scar that still lingered after her run in with Itachi’s projection. Anger wormed through him, he should never have left her alone. He’d sensed something was off that’s why he warned her not to leave, he should have known if the bratty teen had left she’d go after him. She’d taken a liking to the surly teen. His fingers lightly traced over the scar, urging a soft gasp from the pale girl startled at his touch. Her skin beneath his touch turned hot and he looked to her face and held back a chuckle as he noticed it was now a deep cherry red. “We’ll be leaving soon, why don’t you get dressed.”


	22. Chapter 22

Tsuki finished changing and stepped out of the bathroom just as a massive explosion shook the entire underground structure. She toppled forward, losing her balance from the sudden blast and let out a squeak as strong arms encircled her. Her heart raced unsteadily in her chest as she found herself pressed against a lean torso. Shakily she chanced a glance upward and met the lethal golden green gaze of Orochimaru.

“S-Sorry.”

He righted her without a word before stepping away from her. She watched him curiously as he stooped next to a trunk at the foot of their bed before rummaging through it. He procured a large circular hat that provided shade to the wearer and a plain black cloak. Tucking them under his arm, he turned and lightly caught the pale girl’s hand in his before pulling her toward the door.

“It’s time to go.”

Tsuki scrambled to keep up with his hurried strides as her heart thundered in her chest. He hadn’t released her hand and he wasn’t dragging her as he had so often before. His grip was firm yet gentle, his fingers interlaced between hers offering her strength and support as he pulled her along. Worry wormed through her as dust began to settle from the massive explosion. Was Sakura alright?

“Tsuki?” He sensed her hesitation and turned to her curiously.

“I want to make sure Sakura-chan is okay.”  She replied timidly afraid he’d be angry for her wanting to delay their departure.

He released her hand and extended the hat and cloak to her, “That’s where we’re going. You’ll need these.”

Tsuki felt warmth spread through her core as she accepted the hat and cloak. She grinned and threw her arms around him in a hug, catching him off guard. The faintest trace of color spread to his cheeks as he struggled to catch her in his arms. Her heavenly scent enveloped him as she hugged him tight. “Thank you, Orochimaru-sama.”

They took off in a flash once they reached the nearest exit and headed off in the direction they’d heard the explosion. Sasuke was standing atop a precipice of a deep cavern that had once been part of the underground lair. He’d completely blown through it, destroying a good portion of the lair in his blast. Tsuki paled as she realized what jutsu Sasuke was about to use. She wasn’t going to reach him in time to stop him.

Orochimaru appeared at the teen’s side and caught him by the wrist halting his jutsu. “I wouldn’t bother with that jutsu. Be smart now.” The sannin’s voice was cool and crisp.

Tsuki breathed a sigh of relief, had she not been burdened with the bulky hat and cloak that protected her from the sun’s rays, she’d have been able to reach Sasuke in time, but Orochimaru had taken the time to prepare them for her, she couldn’t act carelessly. If she got hurt, it would cause him discomfort. All she did of late was burden him. She reached the ledge and felt her heart drop as she spotted the expressions on Sakura and Naruto’s faces. Their leader, Captain Yamato, was injured with a deep chest wound, no doubt from Sasuke’s Snake Sword. Her gaze fell on the boy she’d seen earlier in the Great Hall, Sai, he looked haggard and worn, but overall alright.

“Let go.” Sasuke growled at the sannin.

Tsuki smacked him over the back of the head and shot the surly teen a dark look, “I told you to watch how you speak to Orochimaru-sama, brat.”

Kabuto appeared at the pale girl’s side in the next instant, “I’m not going to tell you again, watch your tone with Lord Orochimaru.” He chimed in causing Sasuke to bristle with rage.

“Kabuto? Where have you been? You let Sasuke destroy the house.” Tsuki turned to him with an adorable frown struggling to peer up at him from under the huge rim of her wide brimmed hat shading her face from the sun’s brutal rays.

Kabuto blanched at this causing Sasuke to smirk, now that he wasn’t the only one getting scolded by the pale girl. “I was detained.”

Tsuki’s frown grew as she folded her arms across her chest, “Were you really detained or were you purposefully avoiding babysitting?”

“Hey!” Sasuke snarled and attempted to lash out at the pale girl only to let out a hiss of pain as the sannin’s grip on his wrist tightened to the point he was sure the bones in his wrist and forearm were about to snap.

“Leave Tsuki alone.” Orochimaru’s voice came out in a hiss, his reptilian eyes narrowing into slits as he threw the surly teen a terrifying look of warning that had him frozen in fear. “We’re leaving.”

So soon? Tsuki chanced a glance down the ledge to Sakura, her chakra was low, she was their medic and their leader was bleeding pretty badly. She couldn’t do much to help her friend whose heart was hurting, but she could at least help them, to ensure they got back to their village safely.

“Wait.” Tsuki spoke up before they could activate their disappearing jutsu. Kabuto and Sasuke looked to her curiously. She’d never defied an order from Orochimaru before.

“What is it?” Orochimaru’s gaze softened as he directed it at the pale girl, which only infuriated the teen further. Why the hell did he treat her so nicely?

Tsuki leapt from the ledge using subtle shifts in the wind to soften her landing. She approached Sakura slowly before wrapping the pink-haired teen in a warm embrace. Yuki left the safety of the pink haired teen’s shoulder and slithered around the pale young woman’s neck. “I’m sorry, Sakura-chan. I’ll keep him safe and help him work on his manners, I promise. Don’t give up hope. I’m sure the Sasuke-kun you fell in love with is still in there, under that bratty exterior.”

She felt a tear drip onto her shoulder as Sakura hugged her back and cried silently against her. “Thank you, Tsuki.”

Tsuki reluctantly broke their hug before wiping away the teen’s tears. “I can do one more thing to help. I’m sorry I can’t do more.” She flitted away from Sakura and appeared before their injured captain.

He eyed her warily as she reached toward him.

“Tsuki, what are you doing?!” Orochimaru snapped to hide his concern for the girl, she shouldn’t be using her chakra.

Tsuki flinched at his sharp tone but stood her ground. “I can heal you.” She attempted to reassure the leaf shinobi. He didn’t trust her. He had no reason to trust her. Though he saw her as an enemy, he held still, surprising even himself.

Her hand burned the moment it slipped out of her cloak into the sunlight. She bit her lip and placed her hand to his wound willing her regenerative chakra to heal him. In moments his pain lessened, his breathing became easier and the wound sealed itself shut leaving an angry red scar in it’s place. Yamato looked down at the pale young woman in awe.

“Thank you.”

Tsuki smiled, “I need you to keep them safe for me. Please be more careful in the future.” She bowed her head before waving farewell to Naruto and Sakura and disappeared in a flash along with Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sasuke leaving the leaf shinobi behind.

They appeared a great distance away in a cave tucked into the side of a mountain. It was dark enough Tsuki could remove her cloak and hat. The pure white snake around her shoulders lightly nuzzled her neck before disappearing now that his job was finished.

“Tsuki.” Orochimaru turned to the pale girl causing Kabuto and Sasuke to pale. Was he going to strike the girl? They’d both grown attached to the girl over the years, though Sasuke usually found her infuriating he had to admit there was something calming and maternal about her that reminded him of a happier time in his life when his mother was still alive.

Tsuki bit her lip before turning to face the music.

“You burned your hand.” He extended his hand to her, “Let me see it.”

Kabuto and Sasuke exchanged curious glances as Tsuki hesitantly placed her scorched hand in the sannin’s. A faint blush spread across her cheeks as he tenderly pulled her closer before bringing the back of her burned hand to his lips.

“Ah, Sasuke-kun, why don’t we go get some firewood.” Kabuto steered the teen away.

“Why do we need firewood, we can just use a jutsu-.”

“Let’s go.” Kabuto hissed dragging the teen away to give the couple privacy.

“I went against your wishes, I’m so-.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Orochimaru sighed as relief flooded through him once the skin on her hand returned to normal. He gently swept some of her pale moonbeam hair from her face before gingerly sweeping his index finger along her chin, tilting her face upward. “To me or anyone else. Ever.”

Tsuki’s heart skipped a beat in her chest as she met his gaze, there was some strange emotion buried within his lethal gaze, something deep that warmed her to the very core. Her body moved instinctively, her arms entwining around his neck as she stood on tip toe and pressed her lips to his. She felt a strange warm sensation emitting from the crescent moon seared into her palm. It was warm but it didn’t burn, like the fire inside of her, it flared hotter and brighter as she felt his arms encircle her waist holding her tightly against him as he kissed her back with fervor.

Her head was swimming, the crescent moon mark on her palm felt as if it were buzzing beneath her skin. They broke apart panting and gasping for air and simultaneously looked down to the brands seared into their palms. The color had shifted, it was no longer a pure obsidian but now a dark grey as if it were black paint on a painter’s pallet and a drop of white had been added to it. What did that mean?

“What happened?” She asked after a moment to catch her breath.

Orochimaru looked down at the mark in awe. From all his research of the Towa Clan the marks that appeared when soulmates were bound acted as a meter of sorts. As most of the Towa Clan found their soulmates before they’d developed any kind of feelings the mark would start out dark and lighten in color when their love grew. Supposedly the truest and purest of soulmates markings would be pure white, though most average pairs stayed a light grey or silver color. If the mark had lightened, it meant they both acknowledged and accepted their feelings for one another. He tore his gaze away from the beautiful starlight girl. He’d thought all this soulmate stuff had been laughable once, that love was a silly notion, yet somehow, he’d allowed the nonsense into his heart. It was the first time they’d kissed without the intention of healing one another.

“Orochimaru-sama?” Tsuki approached him cautiously and placed a hand on his arm. Her eyes widened as she noticed the faintest splash of color in his pale cheeks. It vanished in almost the same instant as he took a step away from her.

She’d bewitched him and he allowed it to happen. No. That wasn’t entirely true. For the mark to lighten in color, it’d mean she too had feelings and had begun to accept them. “We’re staying her for the night.” He extended a scroll to her, it was their traveling scroll that was able to summon basic necessities when they were on the go. “Can you get things set up?”

Tsuki accepted the scroll and opened her mouth to question him again but cut off with a sigh as he disappeared. Why did it feel like he was running away from her?


	23. Chapter 23

It had been a few weeks since their run in with Sakura and Naruto. They stayed in various caves during the day to protect Tsuki’s sensitive skin from the harsh sun’s rays. She’d finally regained her strength and her keen senses were back to normal. She often thought back on their first night away from their lair. Why did Orochimaru run from her? He appeared to be avoiding her when possible now.

Tsuki slowly made her way to a nearby waterfall close to the current cave they were camping out in. During her training with Sasuke she’d been distracted trying to figure out why Orochimaru was avoiding her and had fallen in mud while trying to avoid one of his fire attacks. After a quick glance around the dark surrounding forest to make sure she was alone, she stripped from her muddy clothing before stepping into the crystal clear cool water. She shivered at the chill from the night air and the cold water before taking a deep breath and diving into the deeper part of the pool. It was colder the deeper she went, but her body began to adjust after a while.

She used her chakra to stand atop the water after she’d had her fill of swimming so she could stand beneath the waterfall and wash the mud from her hair. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she walked atop the water toward the waterfall. Casting out her senses she tried to scan the area. She sensed two familiar presences hiding in the tree line and rolled her eyes at this. Sasuke was a teenager so his poor behavior was to be expected, but she’d thought Kabuto was mature enough, she’d been mistaken. If Orochimaru caught them peeping they’d regret it.

Pretending not to notice her two voyeurs, she stepped beneath the waterfall as she sensed a third familiar presence drawing near. Orochimaru had probably returned to the cave they were staying in to find everyone else missing. Luckily it appeared he wasn’t going to stumble upon Kabuto and Sasuke.

               Tsuki heard a rustling in the underbrush on the opposite bank from where Kabuto and Sasuke were hiding, nowhere near the direction Orochimaru was coming from. There was someone else there! She dropped beneath the water’s surface to hide her body from view only to scream as she found a man beneath the water’s surface. He was a rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist. He made a move to grab her, Tsuki scrambled back atop the water’s surface and froze as she saw a dark cloud of blood beneath the water’s surface where her assailant had been.

               Her colorless eyes flicked to the shoreline. Orochimaru was standing at the shoreline looking livid. She chanced a glance in the direction of where she’d heard the others moving and blanched as she spotted three dead rogue ninja.

               “Tsuki.” He held his hand out to her.

               She scrambled to her feet and dove into his arms. He shielded her body from view as he wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest as her body molded against his.

               “Are you alright?”

               The starlight girl nodded her dripping wet moonbeam hair soaking the front of his shirt as she buried her face in his chest. She chanced a peek in the direction Sasuke and Kabuto had been hiding, she no longer sensed their presence. There was a single kunai sticking out of the trunk of the tree a fraction of an inch above where the tops of their heads would have been. Orochimaru had seen them.

               Upon noticing her clothes were covered in mud, he shrugged out of the white overlaying top that he wore over his plain black pants and long sleeved black shirt. He pulled the white cloth over her head before securing it in place with the purple rope. The white material molded to her soaking wet body defining her every curve in sinful ways. A faint splash of color painted his pale cheeks and he forced himself to look away from her. Tsuki picked up her dirty clothes and scrambled to keep up with his hurried strides as he led the way back to the cave they were staying in.

               It was driving her crazy not knowing why he was avoiding her. “Orochimaru-sama?” She called out to him as she struggled to keep up with his determined stride.

               He stopped abruptly and Tsuki let out a squeak as she nearly smacked into him from behind. “What is it?” His lethal gaze fell on her as he turned slightly, barely acknowledging her.

               Tsuki bit her lip nervously, “Did I do something wrong?”

               “What are you talking about?” He sighed as he turned to face her, keeping his gaze trained on her pale face trying to keep from looking at her voluptuous frame and how the fabric of his shirt clung to every delicate curve.

               “I feel like you’ve been avoiding me…ever since…” She held up her hand to show the now grey crescent moon mark. There was sorrow revealed within her colorless eyes laced with guilt.

               Orochimaru lightly swept a finger beneath her chin drawing her gaze to his as she bowed her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Tsuki.” He hesitated as he glanced down at his own crescent moon shaped brand. It was wrong of him to have kept her caged all these years, if he’d thought about her well being from the beginning he would have tried to cut all ties with her and let her find someone truly worth her love and affection, someone the complete opposite of him. A single tear slipped from the starlight girl’s hold, startling the sannin, “What is it?” His heart ached as he wiped away the single tear.

               “What’s wrong? You look like you’re in pain.”

               He didn’t deserve to have someone as sweet and caring as Tsuki in his life. Not after all he’d done for the sake of science, especially the things he did to her, what he made her go through. Before Tsuki, he didn’t think twice about the vile things he did for the sake of his goal. After being bound to the starlight girl and realizing he’d been trapped in her spell, he’d found himself developing a conscience. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, Tsuki.” Orochimaru attempted to reassure her. He placed a kiss to the top of her head before sweeping her off her feet as she began to shiver in the cool night air.

               She snuggled into his arms with a sigh of contentment happy for the warmth his strong arms offered her, “But I love yo-.” A squeak escaped her as she realized what she’d just blurted and her cheeks flushed crimson. Tsuki scrambled to cover her burning face with her hands.

               Orochimaru faltered and looked down at the blushing girl in his arms. “What was that?” He smirked.

               “…I love you…” Tsuki breathed, her voice almost an inaudible squeak.

               Orochimaru felt his heart flutter in his chest at her words, “I don’t deserve you…” He said after a long moment, his heart stuttered in his chest as Tsuki looked up at him with wide eyes.

               “You’re always protecting me, you’ve saved me more times than I can count, even when you didn’t need to-.”

               “I’ve also caused you a great deal of pain.”

               “But I cursed you.” She sniffled cutely. “And if you didn’t conduct your experiments, I’d never know my limits.”

               Orochimaru stared down at her in awe, she didn’t resent him for what he’d done to her. She was far too sweet. Regardless, he wanted to make it up to her, he never wanted to cause her pain ever again. “I’m sorry, Tsuki.” He found a small clearing hidden in the trees with a curtain of weeping willows enclosing it. He set her atop a stump and knelt before her capturing her trembling hands in his.

               There was something he had to tell her. Something he couldn’t believe would ever come out of his mouth. He’d always believed love was a weakness, but perhaps he’d been mistaken. Tsuki made him stronger. If it was for her sake, he had unlimited strength and power.

               He tenderly caressed her cheek, “I love you.”

               A smile lit up her blushing face and before he knew what had happened she dove into his arms tackling him to the plush mossy earth. Their lips met in a passionate kiss. They both broke apart with a gasp as the crescent moon shaped marks on their hands began to burn and shift once more to a lighter shade of grey. Tsuki paled as she looked to the mark on her hand. Had she done something wrong, again?

               Orochimaru reached into the pouch strapped to his thigh and retrieved a small book of his compiled notes of the Towa Clan. He’d compiled everything of importance from his research into one book. He extended the book to her.

               “What’s this?” Tsuki asked curiously as she accepted the book and rolled away from him.

               “My research on the Towa Clan.” Orochimaru got to his feet and offered her a hand up. “It might put your mind at ease.” Or it would just fluster her further which was fine with him as he had to admit she was adorable when she was flustered.


	24. Chapter 24

Tsuki sat perched atop a thick branch in a tree near a not so well-known path beneath the starry sky skimming through Orochimaru’s research on her clan. Kabuto and Sasuke had gone off on their own to oversee something for Orochimaru that they all thought to keep her out of, which meant it probably wasn’t anything good. Orochimaru had gone to investigate something nearby and told her to wait for him and keep herself hidden in the tree until he returned.

               Someone knocked on the base of the tree she was sitting in startling her from her reading. Her colorless eyes peered downward and widened as she spotted a familiar white haired sannin. It was Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin, and the old friend of Orochimaru who had threatened her life the last time she’d met him.

               “I didn’t think Tsuki-chan could get any lovelier, but I stand corrected.” He smiled up at her. It had been a few years since she’d last met him though he hadn’t changed in the slightest.

               “What do you want?” Tsuki asked him coolly as she snapped the book shut in her hands before tucking it into a small pouch at her waist. She jumped as he vanished from sight only to reappear atop the branch next to her, he was pretty quick for a pervy old sage.

               “I was hoping to have a chat with my old friend. Is he nearby?” Jiraiya had an easy going smile in place.

               Tsuki sensed the presence of another leaf shinobi in the surrounding forest, “And was this going to be a cordial chat or were you planning an ambush with your pal you think I don’t know about?” She asked briskly uncomfortable in his presence. The last time they’d met he’d tried to take her life to kill Orochimaru, they may have been friends in the past but she felt he was no friend to him now. He made her anxious.

               Jiraiya’s smile turned somewhat somber at the girl’s cold behavior. He hoped Orochimaru hadn’t corrupted the pure hearted girl, it was her purity that helped him overcome the regret of not killing Orochimaru when he had the chance. His gaze flicked to the palm of her hand and widened as he spotted the crescent moon shaped mark, it was no longer black but a pale grey in color. What did that mean?

               Tsuki balled her hand into a fist to hide her mark, “You didn’t answer my question, Master Jiraiya.”

               “Cordial.” He smiled and reached out to caress her pale cheek but paused as she instinctively flinched and shied away from his touch. “I am sorry about the last time we met, Tsuki-chan.”

               Tsuki inched away from him, “I know…but I cannot trust you…you were ready to kill me, though I’d done nothing wrong…”

               “At the time, I thought it would be for the greater good.” Jiraiya made no move to get any closer to her and let her put more space between them.

               “And now?” The pale young woman who looked to be born of starlight asked him curiously her colorless eyes meeting his gaze, staring into the very depths of his soul. Eyes that were blinded in sunlight, yet saw everything at night.

               “I’m still uncertain…” He admitted honestly almost transfixed in her hypnotic gaze, he shook his head and forced himself to look away. Was this why the Towa Clan was often referred to as the vampire clan? They could beguile anyone and make them admit things they sometimes couldn’t admit to themselves.

               “Naruto and Sakura think highly of you and I’d feel bad if something bad were to happen to you but please understand, I will not let you attempt to harm Orochimaru-sama again.” Tsuki’s voice shook unsteadily as she tried to keep a brave face. He was a sannin, like Orochimaru, she wasn’t so sure she could defeat him, especially with his hidden friend nearby.

               Jiraiya stared at the beautiful girl in awe, “Do you love him?”

               “I do.”

               “Even though you’re his prisoner?”

               “I’m not a prisoner.” Tsuki tensed as she sensed Orochimaru’s presence approaching. She cast out her senses and silently willed her feelings to him praying he’d stay back. His approach halted and she breathed a sigh of relief, he’d picked up on her feelings.

               “When you were in the leaf village, Inoichi saw-.”

               “Something he misunderstood. Orochimaru-sama saved me from that vile man. I was only in that cell because he thought it would keep me safe…” Tsuki faltered as she sensed him approaching again, her colorless gaze flit in his direction and she felt her breath hitch in her throat as she saw the pale man with the lethal golden green eyes and the long silken black as night hair. “Orochimaru-sama?”

               Those lethal eyes narrowed into a glare as they fell on the white-haired man sitting next to the starlight queen. “Tsuki, are you alright?” He asked her keeping his voice level and calm. He’d sensed her anxiousness and brief moment of fear. Being in Jiraiya’s presence brought back unpleasant memories for her.

               Jiraiya stared at his old friend in awe. He’d changed since they’d last met. Though Jiraiya was sure Orochimaru had used some kind of body transfer jutsu, it was impossible to tell, it was as if his host body was slowly transitioning and contorting back to his original form, was he even aware of it himself? Was it an effect of the Towa girl? He also appeared younger, was his link with the girl revitalizing and rejuvenating him, returning him to the state of his prime? She made him stronger than ever before, with her Towa bloodline feeding him strength and vitality he’d soon be completely unstoppable.

               Tsuki nodded.

               “What did you want, Jiraiya? After your last visit, I’m not feeling too hospitable.” Orochimaru said coolly. He extended his hand toward the girl, “Come, Tsuki.”

               Tsuki looked to Jiraiya curiously wondering if he’d dare try to stop her. He made no move to do so and she slipped from her perch gracefully and vanished from sight, appearing at Orochimaru’s side in the next moment. Jiraiya watched the pair in awe, they were like night and day, darkness and light, heaven and hell. Tsuki was purity and light, Orochimaru was corruption and darkness and together they were blinding. He couldn’t look away from them as the starlight girl slipped her hand in Orochimaru’s hand before standing on tiptoe to whisper something in his ear. His heart skipped a beat as a small smile crossed Orochimaru’s lips, a real genuine smile, not one of his sinister lethal smiles.

               “I know.” Orochimaru said softly as he placed his free hand atop the girl’s head affectionately before streaming his fingers through her moonbeam hair and bending forward to place a kiss atop her head causing her pale cheeks to flush scarlet. “Stay behind me.” He released the girl from his hold and smirked as she let out a cute squeak and scrambled to get behind him lightly clinging to the back of his shirt. His lethal golden green gaze flicked back to the tree ensnaring Jiraiya with a terrifying look. “What do you want?”

               Jiraiya shook his head, he couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed; Orochimaru was capable of love and affection, he truly cared for the girl. “I merely wanted to talk.” He held his hands up for peace as he abandoned his perch.

               “About?”

               “I’m sure you know by now, we’re looking into the Akatsuki…can you tell me anything about them?” He wasn’t so sure his old friend would help him, but something had changed within him something that made him capable of love and affection, perhaps it also gave him compassion for others; maybe, just maybe, they could be allies again.

               A man stepped out of the forest and joined Jiraiya. Tsuki tensed, she recognized the masked man with the silvery white hair, he was one of the leaf shinobi who’d captured her. The one they called Kakashi, the copy ninja.

               Orochimaru contemplated the possibilities, if he revealed the information he knew about the Akatsuki it could help the Hidden Leaf Village and hopefully they’d be able to take care of some of them. The more Akatsuki members he could have removed without having to lift a finger, the better but the information could also be used as leverage if needed at a later time to obtain anything he desired. He looked to the moonlit girl behind him. “I’ll leave it up to Tsuki.”

               Her colorless eyes widened, “Why?” She asked him with a squeak as Jiraiya and Kakashi looked to her.

               “You have a friend there and Jiraiya did threaten you, so I’ll leave it in your hands to decide.” Orochimaru shrugged.

               “What you know, could help Sakura?” She asked softly.

               “Perhaps.” Orochimaru shrugged.

               “Then…please tell them…”

               “Very well. I’ll tell you what I know of the Akatsuki…on one condition.” Orochimaru smirked causing the two leaf shinobi to tense.

               “What’s that?” Jiraiya asked warily.

               “Stay away from Tsuki.” Orochimaru shot the hidden leaf shinobi a glare that made their blood run cold. In that moment, it became painfully obvious to Jiraiya that if anyone ever targeted the girl, their life would be forfeit.


	25. Chapter 25

Tsuki reluctantly left Orochimaru alone with the leaf Shinobi to discuss what he knew about the Akatsuki. She wandered through the moonlit forest barefoot looking like a fairy as she wove through the trees humming a soft melody. A metallic scent enveloped her as a cool breeze swept past her rustling her long silvery white hair. Blood.

               She turned her pale milky white eyes in the direction the breeze had come from and moved closer. Why was the scent of blood on the wind?  Her fingers dipped into a warm liquid substance as she reached out to push aside some foliage. A gasp escaped her as she realized her fingers were soaked in blood. She pushed aside the branches of greenery to look into the clearing beyond and felt her heart drop. A scream bubbled up in her throat as hot tears welled in her milky eyes at the scene before her.

               The clearing was filled with bloody carcasses of various woodland creatures, foxes, wolves, deer, rabbits an array of creatures all brutally slaughtered and left for dead. She screamed as she dropped to her knees next to the fallen blood drenched carcass of a snow-white wolf. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around the snow-white wolf sobbing into its blood-stained fur.

               “TSUKI?!” Orochimaru’s voice shouted in the distance followed by a yell from Jiraiya.

               Her ears picked up on the sound of someone drawing back a bowstring. Had this been a trap? She heard what sounded like several bows release at once just as she heard Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Kakashi make their way toward the clearing. A violent torrent of wind swept around her with a shriek splintering all of the arrows that had been aimed for her.

               Shakily she released the wolf from her hold and swayed to her feet sensing the presence of those who’d attacked her. There were seven of them in total hiding in the trees around her, they’d revealed themselves when they launched their attacks.

               “Tsuki?” Orochimaru stared at the blood-stained girl in awe as strong gale force winds tore through the clearing like blades of air slicing through trees and the vile beings who’d dared to slaughter innocent animals. Screams echoed through the night as her blades of wind found their marks.

               Her wind died down and all seven of the concealed men who’d been targeting her dropped from the trees they’d been hiding in. A strong hand clapped down on her shoulder giving her a gentle squeeze offering her strength and support. She turned to find Orochimaru offering her a sympathetic look.

               “Help them.” She pleaded, begging him to save the animals.

               Orochimaru felt his heart clench, constricting in his chest at the desolate heartbroken expression on her tear stained face. “Tsuki, it’s too late.” He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her trembling form as she cried silently. “I’m sorry.”

               “No.” She shook unsteadily, “It can’t be too late. They were innocent.” Her tears stung as they trickled down her pallid cheeks.

               Orochimaru tightened his hold around her feeling the unsteadiness in her trembling form knowing she wouldn’t be able to support herself soon as she was overcome with grief. Her tender compassionate heart couldn’t bear to see animals suffering like this. He cradled her in his arms and looked to Jiraiya about to ask him to remove the bodies for Tsuki but cut off as a strange ethereal glow began to emit from the starlight girl in his arms.

               His lethal reptilian eyes widened in awe as the glow around her began to grow and tiny tendrils of light seeped from the crying girl. He winced as he felt a sharp pain in his chest, whatever she was doing was using up an immense amount of chakra. “Tsuki?” Orochimaru gasped as he felt his own chakra begin to deplete.

               Whatever she was doing, she was doing it unconsciously as she was still overcome with grief sobbing quietly against him. The tiny tendrils of light began to sweep over the bodies of the bloodied animals. Orochimaru watched in awe as the wounds began to mend and the tiny ethereal tendrils of light breathed life back into them.

               “I don’t believe it.” Jiraiya gaped as he watched the once dead animal carcasses return to life.

               The snow-white wolf that Tsuki had been crying over stretched to its feet and shook itself off, shaking the blood from its pure white coat. It took a step toward the starlight girl as she cried quietly and gently touched the tip of its cool wet nose to her blood covered hand.

               Tsuki jumped at the wolf’s touch and turned to find all of the animals that had been slaughtered looking very much alive and healthy. “You’re alive!” She cried as she threw her arms around the snow-white wolf. “Orochimaru-sama how did you do it?”

               Orochimaru struggled to keep himself upright feeling completely sapped of chakra, “You did this, Tsuki.” He said softly as he cast a wary look in Jiraiya and Kakashi’s direction. His chakra stores were too low to take them both on and from the look in their eyes, he knew they were aware of his predicament.

               Jiraiya took a step toward the uncanny couple but paused as all of the animals turned on him. The wolves and foxes began to growl, the fur on the backs of the rabbits began to fluff up and the deer laid their ears back. All of the animals would fight him if he made a move toward the starlight girl. “I can see why the Towa Clan was targeted to extinction. A power like this supporting any clan would tip the scales immensely.”

               Orochimaru tensed, the animals would be no match for Jiraiya or Kakashi if they got serious. “I’ve told you all I know of the Akatsuki, our business is done.”

               Jiraiya felt conflicted once more, he wasn’t entirely convinced his old friend had changed for the good. What if he walked away again and Orochimaru did something else truly horrific? How could he live with himself if his indecision caused the death of innocents? His gaze fell on the breathtaking girl at Orochimaru’s side. She’d just slaughtered seven men, without moving a muscle. Was her innocence wavering? Even as the thought crossed his mind, he didn’t believe it. She was still as innocent as ever. Those men had slaughtered animals in an attempt to lure and attack Tsuki she acted righteously to protect those who could not protect themselves.

               “It seems they were targeting her.” Jiraiya noted indicating the corpses of the men who’d tried to ambush the girl.

               Orochimaru shot his old friend a glare, “Don’t tell me things I already know.”

               “That means someone else who knows of her clan has discovered her, are you sure you’ll be able to protect her on your ow-.”

               “Don’t insult Orochimaru-sama.” Tsuki cut him off and a strong wind rushed through the clearing shoving the two-leaf shinobi back. Her body shuddered at the effort she’d expended. She felt her knees buckle she’d used up too much chakra.

               Orochimaru caught her in his arms and swept her off her feet in one fluid motion feeling his chakra beginning to replenish at a rapid rate. “I appreciate your concern old friend, but I believe our business here is done.” He glared as he felt Tsuki’s head drop onto his shoulder as she finally succumbed to the fatigue of whatever jutsu she’d used to bring back the animals.

               The mark on Tsuki’s arm left by Manda began to glow. Orochimaru smirked at this, he didn’t even have to expel any chakra to summon the great snake. Since he was so taken with Tsuki, she could summon Manda without using any of Orochimaru’s or her own chakra.

               “I suggest you take your leave. Manda is quite taken with the girl and as you two pose the only threat to her at the moment, I don’t think he’ll hesitate.” Orochimaru chuckled as Manda appeared behind them.

               The leaf shinobi retreated as the great purple serpent appeared with a deafening roar of rage upon seeing the unconscious girl in the sannin’s arms. “What happened to my favorite servant?” He snarled causing Orochimaru to shake his head.

               “Watch over her for a moment.” Orochimaru laid the unconscious girl in the plush grass and watched as the woodland animals began to swarm around her, lying beside her offering her warmth.

               He moved toward the body closest to him and sifted through the corpse’s pockets. There wasn’t anything to identify the corpse but from what he could see of their marred face, it looked like someone he recognized from his days with the Akatsuki. One of the hopefuls wishing to join. Were they sent by the Akatsuki? Tsuki had had a run in with a likeness of Itachi and his partner, it was possible during their fight they’d noticed the mark on Tsuki’s hand or recognized her eyes and relayed the information to the others. Someone among them would surely know of her heritage.

               Orochimaru clenched his fists at his sides. He’d slaughter every man woman and child alive to keep Tsuki safe. “Let’s go.”

               “Orochimaru, what’s going on?” Manda growled.

               “Someone is targeting Tsuki.”

               Manda let out a roar of rage, “Then they will suffer.”

               Orochimaru smirked at this, “My thoughts exactly.” He reached for the sleeping girl and paused as the snow-white wolf placed its giant paw over his hand. “Interesting. You wish to protect her too?” The wolf nodded its head as it removed its paw from his hand allowing him to scoop the unconscious girl into his arms.  “Very well.”


	26. Chapter 26

Tsuki woke with a start as she felt something cold and wet against her cheek and the feeling of soft warm fur beneath her. Her colorless eyes fluttered open adjusting quickly to the darkness of her current surroundings. She found herself in a deep cavern laying atop a large white wolf that was currently pressing its cold wet nose to her cheek. Upon seeing the starlight girl had returned to consciousness the wolf licked her cheek causing her to giggle and reach up to scratch behind his ear.

               “Where are we?” Tsuki asked the wolf curiously as she shakily got to her feet feeling somewhat dizzy. It felt like she was in a haze, everything seemed fuzzy. Had she used too much of her chakra?

               The wolf stayed at her side and nuzzled her hand roughly so that it flopped onto his back. Tsuki smiled as she realized the wolf wanted her to use him for balance. Her fingers entwined in his soft fur as she walked beside him unsteadily. Her eyes darted through the darkness scanning her surroundings. She didn’t recognize this place. It must have been a quick makeshift shelter.

               “Do you know where Orochimaru-sama is?” She asked the wolf and smiled as it picked up its pace appearing to know the way. Tsuki looked thoughtfully down at her furry companion, “If you’re here, does that mean you’re going to make your stay with us permanent?”

               The wolf wagged its tail and turned its head to lick her causing her to giggle once more.

               “I guess you’ll be needing a name…” Tsuki thought aloud. “How about Hoshi?”

               The wolf shook its head in distaste.

               “Fubuki?”

               Another shake

               “Kōri”

               The wolf let out a happy yip and licked her once more.

               “Kōri, it is.” Tsuki smiled as she followed Kōri through the dark cavern.

               They didn’t make it too far through the dark cavern before the hair on Kōri’s back stood on end and a low feral growl escaped him. Tsuki followed his gaze in the darkness and spotted Sasuke in the darkness appearing to be looking for something though was having a difficult time in the current lighting. Before she could reassure the huge white wolf, it took off with a loud snarl.

               “Wait!” Tsuki yelped as Kōri lunged for Sasuke. Her heart fell as she saw that Sasuke had unsheathed his blade, “SASUKE! DON’T HURT HIM!” She cried. A strong wall of wind appeared before the teen and hurled him away as Tsuki darted forward and ran to the wolf.

               “What the hell?!” Sasuke snapped as he managed to land deftly a few meters away.

               Kōri stood protectively in front of Tsuki growling at the surly teen as the fairy like girl dropped to her knees and threw her thin arms around the giant white wolf.

               “You were going to hurt Kōri!” Tsuki snapped.

               “I was defending myself from a wild beast.” Sasuke shot back.

               “He’s not a beast! He’s adorable!” Tsuki huffed.

               Sasuke looked to the pale girl, straining to see her in the dark. He could see her glowing titanium irises in the darkness and frowned. Though he’d been with them for a few years, he still couldn’t figure the strange girl out. Sighing, he took a step forward but paused as the giant white wolf let out a ferocious snarl of warning.

               “It’s okay Kōri, Sasuke might be rude and have violent tendencies but he won’t hurt me.” Tsuki smiled as she hugged the wolf.

               “Don’t be so sure about that.” Sasuke growled as he folded his arms in front of his chest only to jump as a strong hand clamped onto his shoulder.

               “Welcome Back Sasuke.” Orochimaru’s voice came out in a hiss.

               Sasuke looked over his shoulder and nearly let out a gasp as he noticed Orochimaru’s lethal snake like eyes were glowing in the darkness. They retained their original color but they glowed vibrantly like Tsuki’s did.

               “You learned a new jutsu?” Sasuke asked curiously, he’d never seen the sannin use this technique.

               “What are you talking about?” Orochimaru asked his tone sharp, clearly annoyed with the surly teen’s behavior.

               “Why are your eyes glowing?” Sasuke asked.

               Orochimaru looked over to where the starlight girl was kneeling clinging to the white wolf that had tagged along with them for support. Though he knew the cavern was dark he could see everything clear as day. There was a gentle glow emitting from the fairy like girl, she glowed like moonlight, how had he not seen it before? She looked like a radiant moon goddess. He turned back to Sasuke and caught the reflection of his glowing eyes in Sasuke’s gaze.

               He reached for the wraps around his palms that kept his crescent moon symbol hidden and unwound them. His heart skipped a beat as he noticed the color that had once been a faint grey was now a pure glowing white like the moonglow around Tsuki.

               “Orochimaru-sama?” Tsuki’s soft angelic voice drew him from his thoughts as she appeared at his side. Her hand lightly reached up, caressing his cheek, “Are you alright?”

               He felt a gentle healing aura wash over him beginning from where she’d made contact with him. The Sannin reached up and caught her slender wrist in his hand before pulling her into his arms just as Kabuto finally caught up to the surly teen looking somewhat out of breath.

               “Sasuke, don’t run off without m-.” He adjusted his glasses and noticed the close proximity of odd couple. “Ah!” Kabuto rushed forward and grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders before steering him off in a random direction, “We should go this way.”

               “What the hell for?” Sasuke growled in annoyance.

               Kabuto elbowed the teen in the ribs, “I thought you were supposed to be smart, Sasuke.” He hissed under his breath as he dragged the teen off in a random direction pretending to explore the labyrinth of caverns.

               Tsuki’s heart began to race as she met Orochimaru’s glowing gaze. Mesmerized she stared up at him in awe as Kabuto and Sasuke disappeared in the darkness. Her pulse raced as Orochimaru leaned forward. A soft girlish sigh of contentment escaped Tsuki as he captured her lips in a sweet kiss. She wound her arms around his neck as her eyes fluttered closed, falling into his kiss.

               A girlish giggle escaped her as Orochimaru broke the kiss and swept her off her feet. The great white wolf stood at attention protecting the couple from intruders. Tsuki looked down to the crescent moon brand on her palm and gasped as she realized it was a vibrant glowing white. When had it changed?

               “Orochimaru-sama, the mark-.”

               “I know.” He said softly as he adjusted his grip on the girl, cradling her against him. A soft chuckle escaped him as he noticed an endearing blush claiming the pale girl’s cheeks.

               “This means Orochimaru-sama has a lot more time to study all the jutsu he wants.” Tsuki beamed. “Right?”

               Orochimaru looked down at the selfless girl in awe. “Right…” The stronger the bond between Towa couples, the harder it was to kill them, it was rare for their marks to be white. Due to their bloodline ability they didn’t die from things like old age or sickness, theoretically they were immortal. “And what would Tsuki like to do?” He asked her curiously as he carried her back to the cavern, she’d awoken in.

               “Stay by your side.” Her smile was radiant and made his heart flutter in his chest.

 


	27. Chapter 27

Tsuki let out a gasp of pain as her back collided into the stone wall of the cave after she’d been sent flying by Sasuke’s attack during their training. Stars exploded behind her eyelids as she cracked her skull against the stone. There was a sickening crunch sound as she made impact as some of the stone crumbled away. She slipped down the wall and fell to her hands and knees with a wince of pain and coughed in an attempt to regulate her breathing.

               Sasuke appeared at her side and pressed the edge of his sword against her pale neck, “I win.”

               Blood spewed from the pale girl’s lips as she struggled to get her breathing under control. Sasuke had taken a pretty cheap shot when Kabuto had shown up to ask Tsuki where Orochimaru was off to. He took advantage of the moment she turned to answer his question and struck her hard in the gut sending her flying.

               “Sasuke!” Kabuto snapped as he ran to the fallen moonlight girl. His heart fell as he noticed the blood spilling from her lips.  Just as he was about to scoop her into his arms and take her somewhere, he could treat her injuries, Orochimaru appeared in the doorway his lethal eyes aglow with rage.

               “Tsuki?”

               “I’m okay.” The pale girl winced and accepted the hand Kabuto offered her to pull herself to her feet.

               “I defeated her; now can we get more serious with my train-?” Sasuke began but cut off as those glowing lethal eyes turned on him narrowing into a terrifying glare that made his heart seize in his chest.          

               Orochimaru crossed the room as Tsuki shakily leaned against Kabuto to keep herself upright. The lethal sannin swept her off her feet causing a faint blush to spread across her cheeks as he cradled her against him. Kabuto and Sasuke watched in awe as a bright white glow emitted from the pair for the briefest of moments. When the light subsided Tsuki looked to be completely healed.

               “Are you alright?” Orochimaru asked the girl softly.

               Tsuki blushed and nodded.

               “Good.” He gently set her on her feet, “no more restrictions, you can use any element, jutsu or fighting technique you wish.” He pat her atop the head before looking to Sasuke his eyes now cold and unfeeling, “if you can defeat her, like this, we’ll get more serious with your training.”

               Sasuke’s eyes narrowed into a glare, “it won’t take long, it’s not like she’s that much stro-.” His words fell away as a strong violent torrent of wind tore through the chamber. The screeching gale force winds hurled him away with such force he smacked into the opposite wall of the cave and slid to the ground unconscious.

               Kabuto shook his head, “idiot, wind is her strongest element.” He sighed and went to collect Sasuke.

               “Leave him.” Orochimaru’s cold voice gave him pause.

               Kabuto froze as he was about to kneel next to the unconscious teen, “you want me to leave him here?” He asked curiously.

               “I won’t repeat myself.” Orochimaru growled before extending a hand to Tsuki.

               Tsuki took his hand and felt her heart race as he pulled her close sweeping her off her feet in one fluid motion. Ever since they’d discovered the change to the crescent moon shaped marking on their palms, Orochimaru hardly let her walk around on her own. It made her feel somewhat like a princess when he insisted on carrying her around. Whenever she’d question him, he’d say it was because her skin was so sensitive, which wasn’t wrong but if she ever injured herself, he could heal her with a single touch.

               “Where are we going?” Tsuki asked him curiously as she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep herself steady.

               “Outside.” He replied simply.

               Kabuto watched the pair disappear. He didn’t quite understand their bond or the strange crescent moon shaped brands etched into their flesh but he had a feeling that was a sign of their connection. He didn’t understand Tsuki’s Clan or her strange abilities. Because of this bond, Orochimaru seemed so much stronger than ever. There was more, it seemed like he looked younger than before as if this bond between them was restoring his life’s essence, regenerating old cells and filling him with a new vitality. If that were true, then he’d found some way to achieve immortality, or close to it.

               Tsuki looked to the lethal sannin who’d stolen her heart with a smile as they stepped out of the cave, they’d been temporarily hiding out in. They’d been changing hideouts quite frequently which worried Tsuki, it seemed like they were avoiding something but Orochimaru still kept her out of his plans. He didn’t want her involved. It would be better if she could just live in ignorant bliss without a care in the world.

               A slight chill ran down her spine at the brisk night air and her heart began to race as Orochimaru held her closer. Her cheeks reddened at their closeness and his warmth seeping into her through their clothes. She glanced around curiously as he carried her away from the cave, they didn’t usually wander too far. The sound of trickling water soon met her ears as Orochimaru carried her deeper into the forest at the base of the mountain they were hiding out in.

               Her heart skipped a beat as they soon arrived at a beautiful hidden crystal-clear pool at the base of the mountain. Water trickled from the rocky bluffs of the steep mountain side into the water below. What made it truly magical was that the moonlight seemed to make the almost white mountain and the crystal-clear pool they’d found, glow. She felt her breath hitch in her throat as she looked at the beautiful glowing rocks and the crystal-clear pool.

               Off to the side of the crystal-clear waters was a blanket with a basket sitting atop it. She turned to Orochimaru speechless. He smiled at her cute reaction, so in awe of the natural beauty.

               “We’ve been busy of late and I’ve kept you cooped up in cave after cave in nothing but darkness.” He said softly as he set her atop the blanket.

               “It’s okay, Orochimaru-sama, I like the dark.” Tsuki tried to reassure him as she sensed his guilt.

               “Maybe, but you were meant to bask in the moonlight.” He looked to the ethereal beauty sitting before him. Just like the moonstones around them, the starlight girl appeared to glow beneath the moon’s pale rays.  Tenderly he swept her moonbeam hair from her face and smiled softly to himself, _my Queen of the Night._ The thought drifted across the back of his mind.

               A pale blush claimed Tsuki’s cheeks at his show of affection. Despite wanting to bury her face in her hair and hide, she leaned into his warm touch. She felt her heart begin to race as his hand gripped the back of her neck pulling her toward him. A soft flustered squeak escaped her as she tumbled into his arms and they toppled onto the soft blanket he’d laid out for them.

               Warmth spread through her core as he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Tsuki kissed him back feverously feeling a growing need inside of her. She wanted more of him. Her lips parted in a soft sigh of contentment as his hands tenderly caressed her, one entwining in her hair as the other explored her body making her burn with desire. Her heart felt like it was ready to catapult right out of her chest, it was beating so hard and fast, working in overdrive.

               The pair broke apart as they sensed someone approaching, fast. Tsuki looked to the edge of their serene moonlit clearing and felt her blood run cold as she spotted a set of black robes with red clouds adorning it. A member of the Akatsuki! Before she could get a good look, Orochimaru pricked his thumb with one of his canines and hurriedly drew a snakelike seal on her arm where Manda had placed his mark.

               “Orochimaru-sama, what are yo-?” Tsuki cut off with a gasp as she felt a familiar pull and the moonlit clearing disappeared from view. She let out a panicked scream as she realized she’d been sent to where Manda resided. “Orochimaru!”

                Tsuki frantically scanned the rocky bluffs she’d appeared at. Her heart was pounding in her chest. How did she get back? Orochimaru was in danger!

               “Manda-sama?!” She cried desperately as she ran through the maze of rocks trying to find the massive serpent. “MANDA-SAMA?!”

               There was a faint rumble behind her and she turned to see the giant purple serpent slithering out of an enormous hole in the earth. His piercing eyes fell on the panicked girl with the long moonbeam hair. “What’s wrong, little one?” His voice came out in a soft roar that shook the ground at her feet.

               “Orochimaru’s in trouble, I have to get back to him!” Tsuki cried.

               Manda’s gaze flicked to the bloody markings on her arm. She wasn’t injured so he knew she didn’t activate the seal he’d bestowed upon her. Orochimaru must have forcibly sent her here for her safety. He thought back to the night he’d been summoned by the girl, Orochimaru believed someone strong was targeting the girl because of her clan’s abilities.

               “Tsuki.” Manda’s voice was surprisingly soft as he addressed the crying girl.

               Her colorless eyes were filled with tears as she stared up at him looking hopeless.

               Manda summoned one of his many serpent servants. A pure white snake with bright green eyes appeared at the starlight girl’s feet. Her eyes grew wide. “Yuki-san!” She cried as the pure white snake coiled around her offering her comfort.

               “Sorry, little one, it’s best if you stay here for now.” Manda moved toward her and paused waiting for her to climb atop him so he could take her somewhere safer.

               Tsuki reluctantly scrambled on top of the giant serpent while hugging Yuki close as she tried to focus on Orochimaru. He was fighting. He seemed alright for now but he was using a lot of chakra. Nervously she sat atop Manda’s head and allowed him to whisk her off to a giant cave. Her tears wouldn’t subside no matter how much Manda and Yuki tried to comfort her.

              


	28. Chapter 28

Tsuki lay curled in a ball atop Manda while hugging Yuki close. She could tell Orochimaru was having a hard time against whatever foe had shown up. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks. She felt so helpless here unable to do anything. Manda told her to stay here where it was safe for her. Somehow, she could sense what jutsu Orochimaru was going to use, he was gearing up for a summons. He wouldn’t summon Manda expecting her to be with him.

               Tsuki scanned the cavern full of snakes to try and figure out which snake would be summoned. She spotted one that looked to be a descendant of Manda as it started to glow. Tsuki released Yuki and bolted for the snake as it was being summoned.

               “Tsuki!” Manda’s roar of a voice was laced with concern as she dove for the snake being summoned. Her hand pressed against it’s scaled body just as the summon took hold.

               She let out a gasp as she was pulled back to the clearing she’d disappeared from along with the giant snake. The clearing had changed a bit as it now appeared to have been destroyed from the fight. Trees were downed and uprooted, the ground looked as if it had been torn and ripped apart by large scaled powerful attacks. Tsuki scrambled away from the giant snake and hurriedly searched for Orochimaru. He was locked in a fight with two men wearing the Akatsuki robes, solid black with white outlined red clouds.

               One of the men was quite tall and had his face covered with a cloth mask leaving only his pupil less mint green eyes revealed. The other was about average height with slicked back grey hair and bright purple eyes wielding a strange scythe like weapon with red blades. Orochimaru while remaining calm and poised on the outside was struggling to fend them both off as he was preoccupied worrying about Tsuki. She could feel his inner worry and knew he was having trouble holding them both off.

               The giant snake charged into the fray. Orochimaru’s gaze flicked in Tsuki’s direction as he sensed her pure presence. His eyes grew wide as he spotted her with tears rolling down her pale cheeks. There was a warning in his eyes commanding her to flee. Tsuki bit her lip and shook her head, she wouldn’t abandon him. She darted forward. Shrieking gale force winds tore through the destroyed clearing abolishing everything in their path. One especially powerful gust wrapped around Orochimaru shielding him from his opponents. The Akatsuki turned to the newcomer but didn’t have a moment to react as they were both sent hurtling in the raging screaming winds.

               Tsuki ran to Orochimaru’s side and threw her arms around him, “I’m sorry!” She cried as she hugged him tight.

               Orochimaru caught the soft-hearted girl in his arms and held her tightly against him. He felt his chakra stores replenishing and his strength returning. The few wounds he’d managed to obtain in her absence began to mend. “Troublesome child.” Orochimaru sighed as he pressed his lips to the top of her head a small smile dancing across his lips. “That was just what I needed, thank you Tsuki.” He looked to the giant serpent that he’d summoned, “protect her with your life.”

               The serpent nodded. Tsuki tried to resist as Orochimaru released her from his hold and gently shoved her toward the giant serpent. Her heart pounded in her chest as the two men returned to the destroyed clearing. They both looked in her direction before the giant serpent coiled around her concealing her from view.

               The fight began again, it sounded violent and she couldn’t see anything that was happening. “No.” Tsuki cried softly. She wasn’t any help here. “Please let me out.” She begged the giant serpent that had created a strange cocoon around her to keep her out of the fray.

               Even with the boost in chakra, Orochimaru seemed to be struggling against his opponents because the serpent he’d summoned was now protecting the beautiful starlight maiden. Tsuki panicked as she felt a sharp pain in her chest, Orochimaru was injured. It was bad! The giant snake around her suddenly disappeared and she found herself face to face with the man with the bright purple eyes and slicked back grey hair.

               He reached out and caught her by the wrist. “I bet you’d make a nice sacrifice to Jashin.”

               Tsuki looked beyond him and saw Orochimaru struggling to stay on his feet. He’d been pierced through the chest by what looked almost like thick grey tendrils that resembled strands of hair or thread they were stemming from the other Akatsuki member.

               “Hidan, we’re supposed to bring the girl back alive.” The other man sighed sounding increasingly annoyed by his partner.

               Tsuki ignored them, her gaze glued to Orochimaru as blood spewed from his lips. Something within her snapped as she saw him slip to his knees. A dark rage unlike any she’d ever felt before gripped her heart. Her pale eyes began to glow a vibrant blood red as she drew her gaze away from Orochimaru and turned her eyes to Hidan.

               “Huh?” He looked taken aback by her glowing eyes.

               “Die.” Tsuki breathed softly as she turned her wrist in his hand and clasped his arm with her hand. It was a technique she’d read about in Orochimaru’s research on her clan it was called Vampiric Touch. As she gripped Hidan’s arm his chakra and life force began to drain.

               “What the-?!” Hidan seemed surprised by the sudden weakness and lethargy that had overcome him as the seemingly frail and weak girl gripped his arm in an ironclad grasp and drained him. “Kakuzu.” Hidan gasped not understanding what was happening to him.

               Thick grey tendrils, the same that had pierced Orochimaru, flew toward the pale girl. She reached up with her free hand without taking her eyes off her prey and caught a handful of them, coiling them around her arm. They began to wither and blacken in her grasp as she used her vampiric touch on the tendrils that had tried to lash out at her.

               “Die.” Tsuki trembled with rage as she sapped chakra, strength and life from them both. Though according to Orochimaru’s notes they both should have been dead by now, there was something strange about these two men. Her vampiric touch wasn’t killing them just draining them both until they were weak.

               “We’re retreating.” Kakuzu hissed angrily and managed to break away his thick grey tendrils before snatching his weakened partner. They disappeared in the night.

               Tsuki sprinted to Orochimaru’s side as he was about to fall face first to the earth. She wrapped her arms around him offering him strength and support. Feeling him begin to slip away she hurriedly pressed her lips to his willing the chakra and lifeforce she’d just stolen into him through her kiss.

               Orochimaru tightened his hold on the girl and lost himself in her intoxicating kiss drowning in the power she imbued in her kiss. His strength returned and he tried to deepen the kiss only to draw back in surprise as he felt Tsuki’s small fists beating against his chest. He looked down at her curiously. His heart stuttered in his chest as he saw tears clinging to her pale cheeks as she punched him in the chest. She wasn’t hitting him hard enough to cause any pain but she’d still never acted this way before and it concerned him.

               “Tsuki?” His calm voice shook her.

               She glared up at him with tear filled eyes, “don’t send me away!”

               Orochimaru stared down at her in awe, she’d never been angry with him before. “It was for your protection.” He frowned.

               “I don’t care!” Tsuki cried and smacked him again as more tears trickled down her pale cheeks, “I’d rather die than know you’re facing something dangerous all by yourself.”

               “Alright. Calm down.” Orochimaru sighed as he wrapped the distraught girl in his arms and held her close, cradling her against him in an attempt to calm her down.

               Tsuki cried silently against him, clinging tightly to the front of his clothes as if she were afraid, he’d suddenly disappear. He’d have found such an unsightly display a show of weakness if it were anyone but her. Rather than get annoyed as he would if it had been anyone else, he felt remorse for having put her in such a state of despair.

               “Enough.” His voice was gentle as he wiped away her tears not wanting to see her upset anymore, “the sun will be up soon, we need to get going.”

               Tsuki composed herself and nodded her understanding. Her heart skipped a beat as he took her hand in his and they made their way back safely to the cave they’d been hiding in. Orochimaru looked down at Tsuki in concern as he watched her try to fight back a yawn, she’d exhausted herself with her Clan’s Ability, restoring him and from her crying. Tonight, confirmed his suspicions, the Akatsuki were targeting her, though it had seemed like Hidan and Kakuzu had stumbled upon them by mistake as they were on their way elsewhere and just tried to take advantage of the opportunity. He was sure they’d report their findings but knew they wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.

               More would come after her. Orochimaru squeezed her hand subconsciously as he resolved himself.  No one would ever take her away from him. He couldn’t send her away again, he didn’t want to see her upset anymore. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, it may be safest for him to form some kind of alliance with the Leaf Shinobi, to keep her safe. Perhaps it was time for a chat with his old friends again. He grimaced at the thought, they couldn’t be trusted, not with her. At the very least it was time to find a new hideout.


End file.
